Crumbling of the Heart
by PrincessPeace15
Summary: Falling in love has the ability to tear someone down just as quickly as it builds them up. It feels awful. Rachel the Fox learned this the hard way after falling for someone who saved her from the clutches of danger. The very possibility of her savior having feelings for another was enough to make her heart begin to wither. What, or who, could possibly heal her wilting heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This fanfiction will be updated every Sunday, with the exception of this chapter.**

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On this colorful and vibrant world known as Mobius, the life of Rachel the Fox began, flourished… then crumbled.

She was born and raised in a secluded forest, where not much other life bustled about. She was a light –tan colored fox with brown, waist-length hair, black eyeglasses, blue-green eyes, and, usually, a black t-shirt with black capris and black and white sneakers, shaped almost exactly like those of Sonic the Hedgehog. Under the shade of the trees, she was content with living in that lone log cabin with only her mother. Her father's life had been stolen by a brutal cancer of the kidneys when she was only 5. That borderline age between fond memories and not being able to remember a single detail. The trauma that stuck around after she left the hospital for the last time only lasted for about 2 years, yet the effect it had on her personality would turn out to make itself at home permanently. As a little kid, she would be extremely outgoing, butting into everyone's business in an attempt to make friends. About 40% of the time, it worked.

But as the years went by, society became more exclusive, and after losing her father, she became just slightly more shy and secluded. Her old pals moved on to new cliques, and Rachel decided that it wasn't worth ruining future chances by trying to get those pals back. While she could occasionally work up the courage to say hello to someone and was excitable and hyper around anyone who had truly gotten to know her (like Sonic), her true courage had died along with her father. She didn't have the power to take a drastic stand for anything she believed in or wanted. That would prove her helpless in the future.

But let's begin the gist of the story on that one, particular rainy evening. To the average patron, the atmosphere was absolutely miserable. The rain had not lightened up since it started, the clouds were mucked with a sick gray color, and everything was sad.

Rachel, however, found this as perfect. Rain had always been an absolutely beautiful feature of nature to her. It was a perfect break from the beating sun rays that came down during the day, blinding her eyes and only getting in the way. She absolutely loved it, especially when lightning lit up the sky so vibrantly that it was almost like daytime in a night sky.

But on this evening, the rain would prove to be a little annoying. Rachel was just walking home from a nice walk around the neighborhood (neighborhood of trees, I guess).

Then, her right foot got caught on a log that she hadn't even seen there. The next thing she knew, she fell over the log and onto her back… her ankle snapping in the process.

She tried putting weight on it to stand up, but the jolt of pain that resulted was sharper than anything she had ever felt in her entire life. Tears welled up in her eyes as she fell back down. When, ever before, had looking out for her surroundings ever been more important?

Realizing that she would only catch pneumonia from sitting on the cold, wet ground for ages, she tried getting up again, completely dependent on her left foot. This, of course, was a little less painful than actually standing on the bad foot, but it was still excruciatingly agonizing, and the stray sticks on the ground had her falling on her back anyway. All she could do was sit there, holding her ankle and weeping in agony as the rain made her shiver, eventually to the very bone. As the air grew chillier, she cried harder and harder, desperately praying that somebody would just walk by.

Just when she was assured she was done for, she thought she heard a voice from above her say something like "Hey." A deep, dark one.

She looked up to see a hedgehog standing there. He almost looked like Sonic for a second, but he _definitely _wasn't. This hedgehog was black, with red streaks and crimson eyes. He was holding a hand out to her. He almost didn't look like the type of guy to do this kind of thing, but at the time, free help was Heaven-sent. She gratefully, yet awkwardly took his hand, and with this hedgehog's help, was back on her good foot again.

The hedgehog ended up putting an arm around her shoulders and helping her hop toward home.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Yeah, yeah," the hedgehog grunted. "You're just lucky that I was around."

"I guess I was," Rachel muttered.

As they approached the log cabin, the hedgehog opened the front door before letting go of Rachel, giving her a worried look before he seemingly shook it off and stepped back.

"…Name's Shadow, by the way," he nodded.

At that, to Rachel's utter amazement, he just took off, almost seeming to skate away, into the distance, hopefully to be seen again, but possibly not.

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**Author's note: I am REALLY nervous about putting this fanfic out there! While a review would make me even more nervous, I'd still appreciate some! Thank you! Oh, and if this fanfic had a theme song, it would be "Forgotten Way" by Sean Beeson, especially around Chapter 3 or 4, I think. It is absolutely beautiful, I swear.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Yes, this starts with a different point of view on the previous chapter's events. Don't be alarmed.**

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*Shadow's POV*

Shadow wasn't the type to talk to people at his own free will. The enjoyment in that had died along with a dear friend of his. Her name was Maria. All it took was for enemy lines to fire one gunshot to take her life, and to crush any hope Shadow still had. He was the epitome of an anti-hero. He was willing to lend a helping hand, but it took a lot of willpower. He was both evil and kind. He was the type to just stray away from all other life and go after whatever he saw as a goal, and there was almost absolutely nothing that could stop him once he had his sights on something.

He had no idea where he was going that night. It was a dreary, rainy night.

He just happened to be there, at the edge of the forest, at the same time that misfortune struck another person. The first thing he heard was something tumbling into the leaves somewhere nearby. Skeptical, his reflexes sharpened, and he was ready to attack anything that tried to mess with him.

He was dazed with confusion until he caught sight of her. The young, tan-colored female fox. She was having trouble standing up… unmistakable trouble. Shadow knew that that was the source of the racket.

Normally, in a situation like this, he'd give nothing more than a low "Humph" and continue on his way. Just another weakling having some inconvenience, he'd think.

But instead, his crimson eyes would not come off of the girl. She looked exactly what she turned out to be: young and helpless. She brought certain sensitive memories to Shadow's eyes, and he didn't know how. The best friend he had ever had… the one that was taken away from him at the speed of a bullet… This poor, helpless fox was so much like her.

Either way, he decided on seeing what he could do to help out. Reluctantly, he slowly stepped toward the girl until he was looking down at her, getting a true listen at the agony in her cries. She was clutching her right foot. The misfortune that had stricken her was clearly an injury.

He asked himself one more time why she suddenly seemed so important to him. He had never seen her face before. Not around, not in some sort of coincidental dream… nowhere had he caught sight of this girl before. Yet after seeing her in pain, he felt this great need to make her happy. She reminded him of Maria somehow.

He took a nervous breath, held out his hand, and said "Hey."

The girl looked up at him. She had sea-blue eyes, only slightly darker than the ones Maria had. They seemed to sparkle with hope as she gratefully took his hand and managed to get back onto her good foot.

He put an arm around her shoulders and helped her hop home. They soon approached the front door of a log cabin. Shadow could only wonder how lonely she ever was. Was she the type who always had someone talking to her, or was she the type to fly solo and be more likely to draw a picture under the moonlight than to party until it set?

As they let go of each other, Shadow looked at her once more and said "…Name's Shadow, by the way."

He was so focused on getting away and trying to figure out what was going on that he forgot to catch her name.

When he woke up the next day, she seemed to have escaped from his mind somehow. He grimaced at the morning sun, as bright and cheery as it was. What reason was there to be so bright? It only got in the way of his concentration.

However, later in the day found him speeding through the forest. No destination in mind. He almost seemed to be trying to find one…

He stopped when he laid eyes on a familiar structure. A log cabin, blending with the foliage on the ground. It was familiar… so familiar that Shadow couldn't stand to lose sight of it at the moment.

He peeked in the window and sought out the very reason that this log cabin had built itself into his memory.

He saw the girl he had assisted yesterday. She appeared a little cleaner today, compared to when the rain soaked her hair to the point where it only looked like wet bark. Her injured foot was up on a brown pillow, with a towel and ice resting precariously on top of it. She didn't appear to be any happier, though. Only in pain.

Shadow hid beneath the window almost immediately after he realized that it was in her plain sight. The last thing he needed was for her to consider him a danger. A stalker, at the very least.

He didn't want to bother her, but he felt the utmost desire to know her. To know almost everything about her… to see that she was worthy of a place in his heart.

He peeked around at every window, checking for any sort of guardian that could try to drive him away. Not one other person was there at the moment.

He had to know how the girl was doing. He crept up to the front door and knocked on it quietly.

*Rachel's POV*

The pain in her ankle had woken her up in the middle of the night, along with the nagging memory of the man who had helped her home. She couldn't get over how grateful she was that he had done what he did.

She wanted so badly to see if there was even a possibility of friendship between him and her.

She had made friends with a lot of people, but other than Sonic the Hedgehog, all of them had irked her somehow. One particular case was a little girl named Cream. She was an adorable rabbit with a bright outlook. She was the type of person who could provide sunshine to anyone who was having a dark and stormy day, and her pet Chao was absolutely heart-melting! But Rachel always had to watch her words to make sure she wasn't speaking a little on the mature side, and that became tiring… quickly. Oh, and whenever she was a bit on the irate side, Cream would always get on her about it and make her feel like a bad person.

It just wasn't meant to be. And even Sonic got a little tiring sometimes. His athletic personality and her sedative one didn't get along very well at times… and quite honestly, it was starting to make them drift apart a bit.

But this mystery person… he almost seemed like a male clone of her. Could she finally have communicated with someone who would truly understand her and her selfish ways? She was the type of person who did whatever she felt like doing. Could she finally have met someone who would accept that?

Right as she gave a sad sigh, she heard calm, little knocks on the front door. She almost didn't recognize the sound as someone knocking; it was extremely rare for visitors to come by.

Knowing that her injury had launched her far from being able to fight a potential threat, she got a little scared. She kept quiet and remained perfectly still. Who knew what kinds of hobos and rapists lurked out in these woods? She didn't.

"Hey, I know you're in there," a familiar voice demanded from the outside. "It's me. Shadow."

No way. There was just no way someone like that would ever come back just to check on her. Anyone else would just walk away and forget. To Rachel's great joy, Shadow hadn't. It was really him. She had a chance…

"Come in," she said.

At that, the door opened, and Shadow walked in. He then closed the door and walked up to Rachel's bed, kneeling by the bedside… examining her foot.

"How's the foot doing?" he asked.

"Got it checked this morning," Rachel sighed. "It's broken. Definitely broken."

"I wonder why they didn't put a cast on it," Shadow huffed. "Don't they know it'd heal better that way?"

"I think it'd hurt less, too," said Rachel. "Something about any sort of bandaging on a wound… it always makes it feel better. I don't know what it is about it… My name's Rachel, by the way. I just remembered that I never told you that!"

They just talked for the next couple of hours. They got to know each other's interests and dreams, yet Rachel had yet to uncover Shadow's past. Who knew if she ever would?

"It does get really lonely out here," she had sighed somewhere within their conversation. "Normally, I walk out of the forest and find the city whenever I'm feeling alone, and the bustling atmosphere usually cheers me up."

"You can trust me," Shadow had nodded in response. "I can keep you company whenever you need it."

"That'd be really nice," Rachel had said out of lack of anything better to reply with.

They were both alarmed when Rachel's mother walked in the front door as the sun began to set. She was alarmed as well. She was also a tan fox with brown hair, but it was a darker brown, and she usually kept it in a ponytail and wore old-ladyish clothes. She was a tad shorter than Rachel as well.

"Who is this?" she asked nervously.

"This is Shadow," Rachel replied quickly out of fear that her mother would call the police. "He's the one that helped me home last night."

"Oh," her mother said with a sigh of relief. "…N-Nice to meet you, Shadow."

At that, Shadow simply nodded at her and walked toward the front door, opening it and waving to Rachel, who waved back.

"When can I return?" he asked.

"Oh, you can drop by any time," Rachel's mother smiled. "We're all alone out here!"

At that, Shadow left.

And indeed, he and Rachel had a friendship going. This made Rachel extremely happy, almost to the point where she almost hadn't remembered that her ankle was in extreme pain.

During an instance when she did remember the pain's presence, she asked desperately "Mom, when can I get a cast on this foot?"

"Tomorrow," her mother replied. "You have an appointment at the orthopedic at 9 in the morning."

*Shadow's POV*

Just as his intuition had felt, she was much like Maria. For the first time since he lost Maria, he had met someone who he could relate to. Someone who seemed to understand him. Someone he could be free around. At least once, he almost called her Maria.

While they hadn't known each other long enough for him to know whether he'd care for her more than anything else or not, she was certainly the best friend he had at the moment.

Finally… he knew someone who could make him purely happy again.

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**Author's note: I almost always will do anything to keep my fans happy… but here's one exception: I'm sorry if Shadow's out of character at all. I try my best, but… but I can only consider it so much. Anyway, I would greatly appreciate some reviews! I'd love to know how I'm doing!**


	3. Chapter 3

*Rachel's POV*

After 2 months, Rachel's ankle got to the point where it began to heal at a surprisingly exponential rate. One day, she could limp on it for only a short time, and the next, she was able to walk normally with only a slight twinge of pain from each step.

Throughout the entire healing process, Shadow made sure to stop by every single day, and most of the days, that was where he spent a lot of his time. It was almost like visiting her was his only obligation sometimes, and to avoid taking up too much of her space, he awaited the proper time to arrive. From what she had learned, anyway, he really didn't have much to worry about. One day, in fact, he said that he wasn't sure what purpose he had. Death was the last thing that would ever come to his mind, but still, he wondered what he was meant to be doing.

All and all, though, Rachel knew that her company made him happy. That was something she thought she'd never be able to do.

In fact, one conversation they had always stuck out in her mind.

"I was once friends with someone a lot like you," Shadow had sighed. "She was sweet, caring, and optimistic… much like you."

For the first time from what Rachel could remember, Shadow was actually beginning to get sad. He sat there, at the edge of her bed, taking a few deep breaths, almost seeming to fight tears…

"What's wrong?" she asked, hoping desperately that Shadow wouldn't begin to cry. Hearing anyone's sobs, even those of her rivals, hit her with a wave of guilt.

"She was… killed," said Shadow, on the verge of tears now. "Rivalries… got out of control, I guess you could say." A single tear emerged from his eye. "They murdered her…"

Rachel immediately sat up and put a hand on Shadow's shoulder. That was her first instinct whenever she knew she had to lift someone out of sadness. She hadn't had much experience with other people's tears.

She didn't even know what to say.

"…I'm sorry you had to see that," said Shadow, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes and sitting up straight. "You don't deserve to be inflicted with my pain. You already have enough as it is…"

"Don't worry about it," said Rachel. "If it's okay for me to ask… what was her name?"

She immediately regretted asking, for Shadow immediately broke down again. Even worse.

"Her name was… Maria," he began to sob.

As extreme guilt pounded her heart, Rachel hesitantly reached towards Shadow with both arms. She wasn't sure… Was hugging him really going to make him feel better, or would it turn the moment into an awkward one?

She then figured that it couldn't hurt to show that she cared. She quickly wrapped both arms around him, hoping that his tears would soon cease to flow.

To her surprise, she found that Shadow was hugging her back, crying on her shoulder.

They sat like that for about an hour. An impatient, yet melancholy hour. It wasn't that Rachel wanted so badly to let go. In fact, having someone hug her, for the first time in what seemed like forever, was almost like a dream come true.

Eventually, they finally did let go of each other. To her relief, she found that Shadow was no longer shedding a single tear. It was almost like that hour of pain never happened, but clearly, it did.

"Thank you," said Shadow. "Thank you for being there for me instead of insisting that I suck it up."

"Aw, well, you're welcome," Rachel nodded. "You're my friend. Who am I to leave a friend drowning in their pain alone?"

*Shadow's POV*

Rachel had just held him tightly in her arms while he cried about the one thing that had done the most damage to his life. She had held him, while everyone else would say something like "Dude, get over it," or "Suck it up," or "Not this again…"

She had put up with him for a full hour when everyone else would try to stop him the very second he began to show signs of depression. He had to give her credit. She was clearly a very patient and caring person.

"Who am I to leave a friend drowning in their pain alone?" she had just said.

Quite strangely, Shadow suddenly couldn't wait for Rachel to be able to get back up on her feet again. As he spent more and more time with her over the months, he found it more and more saddening to know that she had to stay in bed and couldn't do much of anything. She was almost like a clone of Maria. She was a sensitive, sweet young lady who had dreams, and was doing what she could to achieve them.

In fact, Shadow would have been suspicious that she really was a resurrection of Maria if it weren't for the fact that she was only kind to those she figured deserved it. To others, she could be real stubborn and inconsiderate.

She was the kind of person who did what she felt like doing. Shadow appreciated that and everything else about her.

Suddenly, as he slowly recovered from what was left of his sadness that day, he felt different. What was it about the sea blue of Rachel's eyes, or her beautiful voice… that made him feel like he was going to start blushing?

He had heard of this type of feeling before. Time and time again, Amy Rose had expressed an unsafe amount of it towards that faker, Sonic… But he had always guessed that it was another sort of pathetic thing that mortals went through.

He couldn't believe it, but for a second… On a much lower scale, he thought he was feeling the same way.

At that moment, he found himself getting lost in her eyes for a split second. That was when he got the notion that maybe, by some slim chance, he had developed feelings for her.

*Rachel's POV (The next day)*

Finally… At long last, it was almost like nothing had happened to Rachel's ankle. Only when she twisted it in some sort of extreme angle would it ever hurt again, and it took effort to believe that it wasn't lasting pain from any of the sprains she'd had before.

With a huge smile on her face, she opened the front door and walked out. The fresh air felt better than ever. It was almost like she was released from a prison. A prison of blankets and pain.

She went for a walk, and it felt perfectly natural. She almost couldn't believe she had been stuck in bed for close to 3 months.

As she approached the edge of the forest, she saw that familiar blue blur rushing about in the distance. Sonic hadn't changed a bit, she saw. She continued walking, letting him be on his merry way.

However, she couldn't take 10 steps without being stricken with some unknown force. Wait… was it even a force? It felt so solid. Whatever it was, it sent her falling to the ground, landing on her back. Somehow, her ankle hadn't been reinjured in the process.

Recovering from her shock, she stood up, brushed herself off, and continued walking. She couldn't wait to get to the city, to see what had changed at the local arcade. She couldn't take a break from that place for 2 weeks without coming back and seeing that everything had been moved around.

Suddenly, she saw Sonic jog up to her. She happily waved at him. It'd been a while.

"Hi!" he smiled. "Sorry for knocking you over."

"Nah, it's not a problem," Rachel replied.

"Where've you been?" asked Sonic. "I haven't seen you for months!"

"Broke my ankle a while back," sighed Rachel, seeing that the statement had shocked Sonic. "It's all better now, but I couldn't really go anywhere while it was healing. It. Stunk."

"I bet," Sonic agreed. "Where're you heading off to? Nowhere in particular?"

"Well, I think I'm going to head over to the arcade," said Rachel. "I love going to that place! There's something about crane machines… I don't know what it is, but I love them!"

"Mind if I tag along?" asked Sonic, only a little to Rachel's surprise.

"Sure!" she cheered.

So they found the clearing out of the forest and walked into the bustling city. All was alive here. The trees, the people… the action. Rachel always came here whenever she felt a little bored of everyday life. She lost count of all of the stuffed animals she had won at the arcade. The way you have to position the crane just right… the feeling of satisfaction you get when the crane even grabs ahold of the toy… Aren't crane machines some of the most fun things ever?

As Sonic and Rachel walked through the clear glass doors to the arcade, they approached the change machine, where Rachel got $7 in change. She gave exactly half of it to Sonic, who then wandered around, trying to make sense of some of the machines.

As Rachel had expected, things had definitely changed. The place definitely had more games, and some things were in a completely different place than they were before.

She eventually located her first machine for the day and inserted a quarter. A simple bucket-like claw, designed to pick up capsules with little toys in them. How much simpler could a joy get?

About 15 minutes later, she heard Sonic cheer from across the room. She held her last 4 quarters in her hand, seeing him stare cheerfully at a pink and white lamb toy. As she walked up to him, she saw that it had a heart on its chest.

"Cute," she smiled.

"Right?" said Sonic. "And I know exactly who to give it to!"

And Rachel did as well. She remembered the secret he had trusted her with on that moonlit walk they took, when the city slept and they were like the little rascals who were still awake at that time of the night.

Still, nobody knew but Sonic and herself. Sonic fancied a girl. For some reason, he hadn't mentioned her name. But he fancied her.

As Rachel looked at the stuffed lamb in Sonic's hands, she envisioned it being like those Valentine's Day gifts you see in things like anime. Proudly presented, either definitely or definitely not winning the heart of its recipient.

As they left the arcade, Rachel was completely empty-handed, and she was perfectly okay with that.

However, Sonic walked ahead while Rachel stopped in her tracks, feeling something under her foot all of a sudden. She stepped back a moment, seeing that laying helplessly on the ground was an elegant purple wallet. She picked it up, looking around for anyone who may have been watching her.

She quickly dove behind the nearest gap between buildings that she could find and opened the wallet, leaving the $20 that was there exactly where it was. Although this had never happened to her before, she had a policy in case it ever did.

If there was identification, there was no excuse to avoid finding the owner. If not, finders keepers.

After peeking through every little slot of the wallet, she found a card that specifically said "This wallet belongs to Blaze the Cat."

She ran in the direction she knew Sonic had gone. She soon found him looking back and forth and knew that he had wondered where she was.

"Would you happen to know who 'Blaze the Cat' is?" she asked.

"O-Oh, yeah!" Sonic stuttered, developing rosy cheeks.

"Wait a minute," said Rachel, fighting the urge to laugh. "Is this 'Blaze' the one you-"

"Yes, okay?!" Sonic laughed. "You've got me… I know I can trust you, right?"

"Yes, yes!" said Rachel. "I found her wallet. Why don't you return it to her?"

At that moment, she thought she heard the word "wallet" emerge from someone else's mouth. She turned around to find a couple of new faces scanning the area.

One was a purple, female cat. She wore a purple dress with white pants and red heels. She had to be a princess of some sort.

The other was a silver-white colored hedgehog with cool-looking boots. They were patterned with a cyan color, black, white, and red. They seemed to be rimmed with gold.

Now, he was just a new face. _Now_, he meant almost nothing.

Anyway, Rachel realized that the cat was a likely candidate for the owner of this wallet. The light, pastel-like purple of the wallet seemed to accent her purple clothes quite well.

There was no harm in giving it a shot.

She ran over to the pair, holding the wallet out and asking "Excuse me… you wouldn't happen to be Blaze the Cat, would you?"

The cat looked at Rachel with great surprise as she replied "Yes," and took the wallet.

Sonic ran up beside Rachel and waved "Hi, guys! Long time no see, huh?"

"Yeah," the other hedgehog nodded. "Long time no see."

"Thank you," Blaze said to Rachel. "Where did you find it?"

"On the ground outside the arcade," said Rachel, nervously pointing to the arcade's entrance.

"You seem nice," Blaze smiled. "…Are you a friend of Sonic's?"

Sonic proudly answered "Yep, she sure is!"

"What's your name?" asked Blaze.

"I'm Rachel!" Rachel smiled, holding out her right hand. She was glad she held out the right hand this time…

Blaze shook her hand and said "Great to meet you!"

The other hedgehog then shook Rachel's hand and said "I'm Silver! Nice to meet you!"

"I wish we could stay and chat," said Blaze. "But we really must be going. Thank you again, Rachel, for finding my wallet… and NOT stealing everything within it."

"You're welcome!" said Rachel.

At that, they walked away. Silver… Blaze… those were neat names. Why couldn't she have an awesome name like that?

She nervously looked at Sonic and laughed. "Heh… sorry for stealing your thunder, buddy."

"Nah, don't worry about it!" Sonic smiled. He looked at the stuffed lamb, which was still in his hand.

"Aww," said Rachel. "Well… there's always a next time, right?"

"Yeah, I see her a lot," said Sonic.

Rachel spotted the setting sun. Today had been the best day she'd had in ages. It held certainly the most friends she had made in a while. It was the first time she'd been able to breathe fresh air in a while as well.

"It was great hanging out with you today," she said. "But my mother usually wants me home by dark."

"With Eggman running around, I can see why," sighed Sonic. "Just stop me and let me know if you want to spend the day with me again!"

"I'll be sure to remember that!" Rachel chuckled. "Bye!"

"See ya around!" smiled Sonic.

By the time Rachel approached the cabin, she could have sworn that what she was smelling was her dinner. Juicy chicken… deep-fried potato fries… She knew the scent from anywhere.

She walked in, eventually being able to put her plate together and sit down on her bed.

"So," asked Rachel's mother. "How was your day?"

"I got to see Sonic again!" Rachel smiled. "And I returned someone's wallet, therefore making a couple of new friends as well!"

"Oh, great!" her mother cheered. Rachel honestly hated when she was like this, but you know… whatever.

After she finished her plate, Rachel said "Great dinner, mom!"

"Thank you!" her mother grinned. "…Oh, Shadow stopped by while you were out. He wanted me to give you this." She held out a plain, white envelope, with Rachel's name carefully signed on the front.

Rachel took it and opened it excitedly. Inside was a lined piece of paper, but it had a beautiful illustration of a sunset over an ocean on it. Shadow had drawn this? Alright, she really should have known that he had this kind of talent, but she was still surprised.

She looked down to see that within the imaginary light that reflected off of the lake, there were words. A poem.

_Your company is much like_

_The calm movement of the sea:_

_Peaceful, therapeutic…_

_Calming to me._

_Your compassion bears resemblance _

_To that of a flower:_

_Reassuring and sweet,_

_It gives me power._

_The words you speak…_

_They shed light_

_Where everything is wrong,_

_You make it feel right._

_You… You're like a storm_

_As rough as can be_

_Yet serene, brightening,_

_And beautiful to me._

Rachel read the poem over and over to assure herself that what she was seeing was real, and not some cheerful dream that had found its way to her mind out of nowhere. Shadow had written this… for her. It wasn't mistakenly mailed to her, yet meant for someone else. It was written for, and meant for, her.

She set it delicately on her bedside table and unlocked her tablet. She knew that once her insomnia finally went away, she'd close her eyes with sweet dreams in mind. She could never have asked for a better friend.

Right before she did close her eyes, she looked out at the moon. The sun had set and let the moon take the spotlight, yet it was only preparing for its next act.

Little did anyone know that they would only be witnesses to Rachel's plot in the musical. A deadly tirade of emotion.

*Shadow's POV*

All night, as Shadow tried to get to sleep, he couldn't help but envision the many different reactions Rachel could have had to his poem. He had put his entire heart and soul into its words. It was almost like he did surgery on his heart and spilled words onto the page. But what would come out of it? A sudden romance? Rachel developing a fear for him? He just wasn't sure.

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**Author's note: I can't thank you enough for taking precious time out of your day/night to read my work. Please… if you can find it in your heart, leave a review! I would greatly appreciate some solid thoughts on how this is going! I love writing it, and I want to know if you feel the same about reading it! **


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Rachel opened her eyes to the next morning was that poem from Shadow. That lovely set of rhythmic prose that assured her that the friend she saw in him was one that cared for her quite a lot. It rested delicately on the table, to be treasured... _dearly_ treasured.

She stretched her limbs, yawned, stood, and walked over to the nearest window. There was an odd gloom to the day. The clouds that barely frosted the sky had an odd... eerie feeling. As she put her hand on the window, she noticed that it had a menacing chill.

Ah, what was she worrying about?! It was the end of winter: that stage in the year where the snow began to melt away and become extinct, yet the chill could make one think absolutely nothing had changed.

Still, there was a strange sense of uncertainty looming in the air for Rachel. Her intuition was definitely up to par.

She walked away and took a brush to her hair, then came back and put her hand on the door, even hesitant to leave her own home. Now, this was just unnatural. The outside world was a complete third of her life.

Deciding that this random uncertainty was complete, utter paranoid baloney, she opened the door and strolled right out. Nothing but the eerily breezing chill happened until she was just about to reach the clearing at the edge of the forest.

Then, out of nowhere, a voice crooned "Why, hello there," from behind her. The voice clearly was coming from a male being. An... old, male being. She turned around, realizing that hearing a voice so sinister as that meant anything but good.

She laid eyes on a flying steel bowl-like airship with a fat, portly man smiling evilly down at her from it. It almost seemed like something Sonic had mentioned one time. "Flying airship he could barely fit into," he had said. "Fat, egg-shaped man with a bushy brown mustache."

This man definitely seemed barely able to fit into the thing, and he was definitely fat and egg-shaped... but his mustache was _white_. This couldn't be. He was wearing a mix of red, yellow, and black. Unrecognizable in every other respect.

"...H-Hello," Rachel muttered, completely dumbfounded.

"How has your morning been?" the man asked, in the same despicably evil tone.

"Fine... I guess," Rachel said, backing up by a couple of steps.

The man moved his ship the same couple of steps toward her before lowering it until it landed gently on the ground.

"Mine's been going pretty great," he said. "Now that I've found you."

"Rapist" was the first word that came to mind. She had known that not everything could be rainbows and puppies in this forest, but she figured she was safe either way.

"Don't try running away," the man continued, climbing out of the ship. "I won't hurt you... unless I have to, that is."

"If you could be so kind," Rachel requested, stepping back ever quicker. "Could you at least tell me what you are trying to get at? Like, are you a rapist or something?"

"Heavens, no!" the man answered. "What are you, 16?"

"Close," Rachel nodded.

"But I digress," the man continued. "No, I need you in my alliance."

"Me?!" Rachel questioned. She and this man had certainly never crossed paths before. At least, not as far as she knew. What would an evil, intelligent man such as him want with a loner-like, stubborn teenager such as her?

"Yes, _you_," the man answered in annoyance. "I only need to recruit the most intelligent people around. Sources tell me that your intelligence skyrockets through my line of standards, much unlike anyone I've come across before."

"And how, I'd like to ask, did you get that information?" Rachel asked.

"Educational records," the man answered plainly.

School worked rather differently on Mobius than on Earth. It was only required that a student learn basic mathematics, how to read and write, and a basis on how things like the Solar System worked. Rachel had blasted through the reading concept at a shockingly young age, and the rest was also a breeze. She suddenly remembered that.

"There's no other answer," the man stated, taking a few steps closer to Rachel. "You must join me. With your brains and mine combined, the world will be under my control in half the time!"

"No," Rachel answered, fearing for her life.

At that, the man reached for her hand, trying to grab it. She pulled it away in the nick of time, then began to run away.

To her dismay, every time she had the nerve to look back, the man was hot on her tail... getting closer and closer to her every time. If it wasn't for his long, skinny legs, there was no other explanation.

Horrifically, her ankle developed a sharp pain. She could run no longer.

And at that moment, both of the man's hands had a firm grisp on her right hand. He pulled her away, and no matter how hard she tried to resist it, he pulled her back toward the ship. She wasn't sure whether to cry out for help or not. She could, and Sonic could possibly hear her and immediately be at the scene, ready to rescue her. At the same time, though, nothing but a death threat from this man could come out if it.

So... this was what the fear of being kidnapped was like. They totally overglamourized it in the video games. This was not nearly as epic.

She was forced to climb into the ship with this man, where she found that thankfully, there was more room than she had previously guessed.

The ship instantly lifted from the ground, and when it stayed at the same level, it began to fly to what she knew as the east. The sun was rising directly ahead, and it would not shed light on this dire situation.

All of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain jab her in the forearm. Had... a needle just broken her skin?

Immediately, her eyes began to close. She felt loopy, gradually losing sight of reality. Then, she blacked out. An anesthetic. Of course.

Right before she did so, however, she heard the man say "Oh, and my name... is Doctor Eggman Nega."

* * *

**Author's note: Thank you, awesome person, for reading! I will go to great lengths to maintain the update schedule that I promised... and tonight is a perfect example of a great length. Had to write on a different *cough* slow *cough* computer due to the cruel, misunderstood concept known as fate. That should just be for tonight, though! Please review if you please! That'd be SWEET!**

* * *

**Question for the readers: This doesn't have anything to do with this fanfiction... but it does have to do with my Sonic fandom. Who's heard of Organ Trail, the modern, zombie apocalypse version of Oregon Trail? Well, I was thinking of writing a fanfiction where my OC, Rachel, and 4 canon Sonic characters go on the Organ Trail adventure! I have the game, so... yeah. How does that sound? Let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5

*Rachel's POV*

Rachel woke up a rather short time later, feeling as if she was waking up from a normal, natural bout of sleep, rather than the effects of an anesthetic administered to her by an evil man by the name of Eggman Nega.

See, she even remembered the name! She remembered the man's name, appearance, and the way he grabbed her by the hand and took her to his airship, which flew a substantial distance before she was forced to black out.

She was currently in an empty place. It was walled by complete, silver steel, and only had a single silver cabinet and a door... one of those doors that appeared to be not only locked, but sealed air-tight.

There was, however, a single window, which presented the captivating view of what seemed like the same, snow-blanketed forest of trees as the one she knew as her home.

She only got one look out of it before she heard the door creak open. Imagination flashed in her eyes... well, the darker side of her imagination. She imagined this guy being the one who kidnapped her and held her hostage only to bring her life to an end... before she recalled that she was here because he wanted her help to take over the world.

Yes, it was Dr. Eggman Nega that had opened the door, and was staring at her with a triumphant smile plastered on his face. But rather than a sleek blade, or a jam-packed gun, he held a needle with an empty syringe.

"Amazing you've roused so quickly," Eggman Nega marveled. "All I need from you today is a quick blood sample. It's the easiest bodily fluid I believe I'll be able to get from you, and there's not much I can do with saliva with my equipment. I should be able to sift through your DNA and see whether you have any special powers, so if you've got anything in that respect to hide from me, it's got nowhere else to hide."

Taking one more look at her surroundings, Rachel realized that the lack of mentally stimulating anything in this room had to be addressed.

"Doctor," she very kindly asked. "What do you need me to do?"

As Eggman Nega broke Rachel's skin with the needle and withdrew some blood, he answered "Nothing quite yet, my dear. If I want the world under my control... I need a plan first." He withdrew the needle and dug into his pocket for a clean tissue, then pressed it against Rachel's "wound."

"And once you have a plan," Rachel followed up. "You'll alert me of it."

"Yes," Eggman Nega answered simply, standing up and walking to the door. "...I dearly appreciate your cooperation, Miss Rachel."

"I don't necessarily appreciate what you're doing," Rachel sighed. "But trying to scramble out of your grasp would be futile."

"Mm, clever, clever girl," Eggman Nega nodded, walking out, very tightly shutting the door behind him.

In reality, Rachel only wished she had the power to break out of his grasp. But all there really was to grab was the realization that she had been kidnapped and forced by the side of an evil mastermind. As the afternoon sun disappeared above the ceiling of the place, she wondered how disappointed Eggman Nega would be when he found that her blood was a complete waste. Her intelligence was all she had to succeed. Sonic and Shadow could run as fast as sound, but a gopher could beat her in a footrace. Other than the pizzazz she had locked within herself, there was really nothing to make her stand out... let alone attractive. She had felt downright abominable until Shadow had given her that poem.

Shadow... she could picture him rescuing her from this mess. He and Sonic were really the only true friends she had.

At the time.

*?'s POV*

He had simply gone out for a walk. A walk was all he needed to soothe his soul at the very moment. His life was perfect, but sometimes, the nature dancing calmly in the breeze made him feel as if something he had been missing had just been found.

Looking away from the snow-covered nature, he set eyes on something built in and around the trees. It just barely didn't touch the ground. One would need a meter-high staircase to get into even the bottommost entrance... which he couldn't find. A silvery steel building.

Why did it feel so familiar? He could almost remember this being the stage for a bitter rivalry.

Just as soon as he remembered what this place was all about, he looked up to a single window on the highest level, and instantly knew something was wrong when he caught sight of a familiar girl, looking forlornly out of it. The sadness in her eyes told him that she clearly missed the outside. She had to have been forced to be here. He knew who this girl was, too.

He immediately went to action.

*Rachel's POV*

The darkness was very vague, making the evergreen trees turn from evergreen to black, while the snow remained pearl white.

Feeling fatigue begin to overcome her, Rachel yawned and tried her best to curl up on the cold, hard floor. Well, the chill of the surface was so relaxing that she sprawled out a little more, but her head still only had her hands to gain comfort from.

Right as she closed her eyes, she could hear just a tiny creak, then a muffled "thud" coming from the entryway. She figured it was just Eggman Nega coming in to check on her and the room, perhaps to gather something from the cabinet, which she learned only held food, water, and scientific supplies.

Instead of drifting off completely, she was jolted awake by a hastened "Psst."

Opening her eyes, she caught sight of... him. It wasn't Eggman Nega, positively. Nor was it Sonic or Shadow.

She was looking at the golden eyes of the acquaintance she had shook hands with yesterday. His gloves were alight with a cyan-colored circle design.

Silver.

"Hey," he whispered. "Don't you worry. I'm going to get you out of here, alright?"

Rachel did nothing more than give a quick nod before carefully standing up.

"Just follow me," Silver whispered.

So Rachel did so, looking to the doorway to realize that it had been... detached and set off to the side? But how?!

Not taking her eyes off of Silver, she quietly followed him through one or two winding hallways before catching sight of another door. Was this really the way out?

Silver slowly reached out for the doorknob... when "Hey!" came from behind them.

They both turned around to see Eggman Nega, in stereotypical blue and white pajamas. He definitely looked a lot better in his usual outfit...

"...Well, what do we have here?" he asked irritatedly. "Silver! Ha... I knew I'd run into you again somehow. I just wouldn't have preferred it being you trying to run off with my newest ally!"

He reached out to try and grab Rachel. Rachel stepped back... and Silver stepped between her and Eggman Nega, his arms out in a stance that clearly showed that he would not let Nega get his grubby hands on her again.

Was this where it all began? Rachel was certainly flattered, but she passed it off as simply that.

"Look," Eggman Nega stated. "It's almost 10 o'clock at night. We're all really tired. Just step aside, and there won't be any trouble."

At that, all Silver had to do was put his hand out to cast some sort of... magic? Nah, didn't look like magic. It was some sort of force, whatever it was. Whatever it was, it surrounded Eggman Nega with an aura and seemed to leave him completely frozen to the spot.

Then, Silver used this same power to throw Eggman Nega powerfully against the wall. Rachel almost cringed; that dude's back had to be shattered. Thrown out, at the very least.

When Silver lowered his hand and ceased the power, Eggman Nega sort of keeled over on the floor, moaning in pain for a few seconds. Rachel could only watch him in amazement. Intelligent... definitely. Old-bodied... definitely.

Before she knew it, she felt Silver grab a hold of her hand and have her run out of the building and deeper into the forest with him.

As soon as they ran a pretty long distance, she immediately caught sight of her home. It stuck out in a unique, holidayish way.

"I live right over here," Rachel informed him, pointing to the cabin.

In front of the cabin was where they stopped, catching their breath and looking all around, making sure that Eggman Nega, or any type of trace of him, was nowhere in sight.

"Thank you," Rachel said gratefully. "I really can't thank you enough for getting me out of there. I wasn't sure what to do!"

"Don't mention it," Silver nodded. "Really, all I want in return is to know that you're safe."

"I'll probably holler if I get into any more trouble with that guy," Rachel assured him. "I know who he is now, and all."

"Great," said Silver, suddenly getting that cyan-colored aura around him... and rising into the air.

"I'll see you around, I guess!" Rachel smiled.

"Yeah," Silver replied, flying away. "See you around!"

After giving one final wave, Rachel went inside, throwing her coat and shoes off and flopping onto her bed.

However, getting to sleep that night was something else. In the past, she had had annoying rushes of awkward memories that she had sworn to put behind her replaying in her head, keeping her awake. This was the same thing... but different.

She had only seen the guy twice in her entire life. Perhaps, second time's the charm. Visions upon visions of what she had just seen replayed in her head. The way he could levitate into the air and basically take off into the skies. His voice, softly whispering for her to awaken and follow him. The way he had... stood up for her like that...

He amazed her.

* * *

**Author's note: I apologize if this isn't at its best. Due to mostly unfortunate circumstances, I wrote this at 2 in the morning, plagued with fatigue. Utter. Fatigue. Anyway, I have 2 questions for you guys this week! #1 pertains to this fanfic. #2 refers to that one I mention too much that will be written in the near future.**

**Question #1: What shippings do you want to come to fruition in this story? Most importantly, what are your thoughts on Silvaze?**

**Question #2: I will be writing that "Sonic in Organ Trail" fanfiction. Which 4 Sonic characters could you see battling through a zombie apocalypse? (Do NOT mistake this for an OC request. If I ever need OCs for anything, I will request them personally.)**


	6. Chapter 6

*Rachel's POV*

When Rachel woke up the next morning, she decided that some time with Shadow was long overdue. With him visiting her every day, she knew that he had worried when she wasn't anywhere to be found last night… at least, not anywhere she had ever been to before.

She figured some time with her best friend would help to clear the fog out of her head. That type of fogginess that she couldn't seem to shake. About one particular thing, she was more confused than she had been in quite a while.

What was it about that silver hedgehog? Over and over, the reminders of his bravery looped in her memory. She saw something in him that she hadn't come close to seeing in anyone else. She had seen the experience of being attracted to someone happen to others… yet she had never experienced it firsthand. She felt… drawn to Silver, even though they had said less than 100 words to each other in their entire lives.

She couldn't, yet her soul was screaming for her to believe it. This was what it felt like to have a crush on somebody.

She opened the door and went outside… bumping into Shadow, who seemed like he was just about to knock on the door.

"Oh, hi!" Rachel stammered. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be," Shadow replied. "I… heard about what happened to you. Are you okay?"

Just as she had feared.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Rachel. "Eggman Nega does have a sample of my blood, though."

"Ah," said Shadow.

"It's just blood," Rachel shrugged. "Oh, that poem you gave me… was amazing. Thank you for that. Quite frankly, I kinda needed that kind of confidence boost."

"Yeah," Shadow blushed. "Y-You're welcome. I knew you'd like it."

They walked silently for a few more seconds before a tap on the shoulder almost made Rachel jump out of her skin.

She turned around and saw that the shoulder tapper was literally the last living being she expected to be here at the moment. Silver.

"Hi, guys!" he smiled. "What're we up to?"

"Not much," Rachel shrugged, doing surprisingly well at keeping her cool. "Just… walking about, enjoying nature, and… well, that."

At this, Silver chuckled a bit. His laugh was noticeably cute. It stood out to Rachel a little more than it should have.

"Well, I am _bored_," Silver stated, joining Shadow and Rachel as they continued walking. "What are we talking about?"

Shadow just looked at Rachel once, not saying a word. She took this as a shrug.

"We really don't know anymore," said Rachel. "We're just… walking and stuff."

She felt totally awkward. As if one wrong move would mess everything up.

Yet the three of them ended up having a chilled conversation as they walked along the path. Well, Silver and Rachel did, with Shadow eventually contributing a stray word or two.

Eventually, a smile appeared on Rachel's face and stayed there permanently. That was something that almost never happened. That only happened when something made her truly happy.

Even she was dazed by the realization. It was all coming together. The gold in Silver's eyes was almost like that of his personality. Never before had she met someone whose words completely captivated her attention. With every laugh they shared, she could feel their friendship increase in strength.

Silver was suddenly not only a captivating person. He had become someone who was unknowingly drawing her attention from not only distractions, but the entire rest of the world.

Eventually, they reached the forest clearing, catching sight of Sonic and Blaze in the distance. They appeared to be having idle conversation. Silver smiled and ran up to them, Rachel following.

Shadow? He just… stood behind, leaning against a tree.

As greeting, Sonic and Rachel waved at each other, saying their hellos and getting the info on how each other's day was going.

At the same time, Silver appeared to have given Blaze a quick hug.

Quick… yet momentarily poisonous. For a mere millisecond, the sight of the hug made Rachel a little queasy.

Even she was not entirely okay with this.

A quick conversation went on. Nothing much, just a quick overview on what everyone thought of life.

5 minutes later found them waving their goodbyes and taking off, Sonic and Rachel going their separate ways, Silver and Blaze leaving together, and Shadow… gone.

Right before Rachel returned too deeply into the forest, she hesitantly looked back at Silver and Blaze. Look at them, she thought. They were the best of buddies. They seemed to click together perfectly, like 2 jigsaw puzzle pieces.

She looked away, her hand colliding with her forehead. For once, she was trying to combat against the combined forces of her heart and her soul. What it was about Silver that was so interesting, she had yet to be able to put into words. Was he… really that handsome?

She was ashamed for simply _considering _that 4-letter word that still challenges the minds, the hearts, and the souls of many a person. The time they had known each other was not nearly sufficient, and yet, her heart expected him to be… the one?

HOW?!

*Shadow's POV*

Shadow didn't expect much to be on his mind that day. In fact, all he wanted to have to focus on was Rachel.

Arriving at the cabin the previous night and not finding her there was a little unusual. He passed it off as the possibility that she had escaped from the clutches of home to take advantage of the lonely night.

Hearing from Silver that she had been taken captive had scared him more than anything else… ever. He could only wonder how he hadn't known, and what he could have done.

Friendship? A mere word lately. A mere word that meant half of what he felt for her. She was like nobody else he had ever met. She captivated his attention, like all others had failed to attempt. He was drawn to her by some unknown force that some refer to as a certain 4-letter word. A powerful word meaning everlasting affection… and that is what he saw his feelings for her as. Affection that would just not seem to go away.

As he skated away to someplace… just someplace… his suspicion of the 4-letter word was heightened when he realized that he had been exposed to a new element. One known simply as jealousy. Seeing Rachel talk to Silver gave him the sensation that a rock had plopped into his stomach. Everything except the two of them seemed to be frozen.

He couldn't help but notice that around Silver, Rachel just acted… different. He couldn't put his finger on it. Her tone of voice seemed untouched. She hadn't said anything different.

Today, a lot had caught his attention. He could figure out none of it. Yet, it all bothered him in very specific ways.

* * *

**Author's note: I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little sloppy. I'm sore, it's midnight, and the sunburn on my shoulder has begun its reign of irritation… It's been a long day. I wasn't fully into the writing mindset tonight. **


	7. Chapter 7

*Rachel's POV*

Two more weeks passed before life reached its next checkpoint.

Where the situation became evident was on a frosty February day… the morning of the day before Valentine's Day. Rachel knew that this would be one of the most different Valentine's Days she'd ever had. This year, she saw a potential Valentine in someone.

Especially after she woke up from a crazy dream in the middle of the night, she knew that that 4-letter word could finally get in on the situation.

Over the past couple of weeks, every time she caught sight of Silver, she couldn't look away. Her eyes wouldn't allow her to. Every time Silver spoke with her, she took every word he said and cradled it in her heart. Every time they were alone in the process was a surefire memory waiting to happen.

Every time she saw him with Blaze, that same rock made itself at home in her stomach, and she'd instantly go scolding herself for letting it.

"Blaze is his friend, just like you are," she'd mentally tell herself. "What are you, some sort of angel from Heaven? No. You're a fox. A highly intelligent fox."

She told herself that she knew better than to let Silver's time with Blaze convince her of anything rash. That would soon become more difficult by the boatload.

That dream she awoke from? The one that assured her that the word "love" was no longer a joke.

In Dreamland that night, she had found herself walking through the forest, which was somehow the location for a mile-long Valentine's Day party. The entire trail, it seemed, was decked out in holiday lights, hearts, festivities, and love.

Within that dream, she found herself walking through it all with Silver by her side.

Before she knew it, they were in a darker area. An area just barely outside of the sight range of anyone else who had arrived at that party.

She suddenly felt that Silver had taken her hand. The realization was almost like the discovery of riches.

She looked over at him and saw that his face was the definition of red. His cheeks could have been mistaken for red roses, like the ones whose petals rested patiently on the ground all around them.

She instantly knew what this meant.

Then, the real Rachel just _had _to open her eyes and find herself instead sitting upright on her bed, in the lonely place that was the cabin, darkened by the night sky.

Rather than the lights from the party, the area was only lit with moonlight. And she was all alone.

"Ugh, what the…" she groaned, quickly realizing that she was not going to be able to get back to sleep. So she laid on her side and "day" dreamt.

Constantly, she tried to convince herself that what she thought was not what she wanted to think. Having a crush is one of those bittersweet phases in life. She didn't want to be focused on someone that she wasn't sure felt the same way. This had to be simply a phase, she figured.

Then, she scanned through the turrets of her memories and understood that what she felt for Silver was something unmatched by any feeling she'd ever had for anyone before. An affection different than that which comes out of mere friendship. The desire for him to be included in every aspect of her life. The desire to be… _close _to him.

She had to face the facts and take them on. No backing out. _She was in love with him_.

She managed to keep herself busy until the morning sun rose. Once it brightened the world at an adequate level, she slipped her coat and boots on and left the cabin, hoping that another encounter with nature, or even possibly with another person, would clear all this out of her head somehow.

*Shadow's POV*

As the sun rose that morning, so did the realizations that Shadow had to face.

The entire night, he had tried to convince himself that what he was feeling for Rachel had to be tamed. He could accept himself liking her. It felt perfectly natural all of a sudden, as if it was embedded into his destiny.

But as the twilight glowed in the sky, he suddenly had to understand that it was more than that. Saying to himself that he simply _liked _her didn't feel right anymore. He wanted to spend as much time with her as physically possible, even if it would mean being by her side his entire life. Every word she spoke to him was like music. Beautiful music.

She did sing to him once, within the past 2 weeks, and it had put him under a unique, yet discreet spell of ecstasy. Standing there and hearing her singing voice, it was like they both were the last living beings existent on Mobius.

He wanted to be close to her, more than anything.

Love. A word meaning strong affection for another. It was no longer standing hopefully on the sidelines. On this twilit morning, it was finally in play.

And he had to do something about it… without confessing it directly. If what he and Rachel had were to crumble permanently, life would be like hell on Mobius. Meaningless… seemingly endless.

There was a question he decided to ask her. He'd heard it before. It was not nearly as harmful as other things, but, at the same time, had the great potential to start something wonderful.

He stepped foot on the forest trail and walked in the direction of Rachel's cabin, slightly puffing out his chest and mustering confidence.

*Rachel's POV*

Rachel was more grateful than usual to see Shadow up ahead. She ran up to greet him.

"Hi!" she panted. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Shadow smiled. "Just fine."

Why was Shadow so… happy all of a sudden? Had he been drugged? Well, at the same time, that smile on his face made her feel somewhat… warm and fuzzy inside.

"Can I ask you something?" said Shadow.

"Sure," Rachel nodded. Her mind was actually off of Silver for once… What an occurrence!

Then, Shadow seemed to get… nervous?! When did "nervous" and "Shadow" ever go together?

"I was wondering, Rachel, if…" he said. "…if you'd like to go on a… sort of… date l-like thing… sometime."

"Ah," Rachel said back. That question had almost run her vocabulary completely clean for a second. She was numb.

"I mean," Shadow said nervously. "I understand if you don't-"

"Don't worry about it," said Rachel. "Sure! I can do that!"

Strangely, it didn't matter in the least at the moment if it wasn't Silver asking her out. She had been asked out. That was the point at the moment.

Jealousy of anyone else this had happened to was whisked away with the wind, especially when she saw that her response had made him smile that warm smile again.

Rachel asked "Like, now, or another day?"

"Another day," Shadow replied. "I had… a formal date in mind. With the fancy clothes and everything… if you can manage it."

"I can do that," Rachel nodded. She had a dress she thought was very cute. Perfect for a date.

"Perhaps… tomorrow at 8?" Shadow asked.

"Sure!" Rachel said.

What was it that was happening? It felt as if things had changed for a second there.

Did Shadow, perhaps, like her? And Silver wasn't in mind anymore. Where had _he _gone?

* * *

**Author's note: For the past couple of weeks, I've been going into this with half a writer's mindset instead of a full writer's mindset. Maybe now that I don't have to write the day immediately before I write this anymore, that should change. I have a couple of questions for you this week as well! Oh, quick shout out to the one known as werewolf99. Thanks for your opinion, bro!**

**Question #1 for the readers: What's the most romantic date to you?**

**Question #2 for the readers: I'm going to say 2 potential shippings and a "neither", and I want to know which you like best. Here goes: Silvaze, SilverxOC, or neither?**


	8. Chapter 8

*Rachel's POV*

For once in what seemed like ages, Rachel couldn't remember what she dreamt that night. She simply closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she had opened them to find herself in the same room, on the same bed, being lit with daylight rather than moonlight. This, rather than the insane delusions Dreamland had put her through, was much of a relief.

Was Shadow really all it took to temporarily wave away the fog that her love for Silver had littered her mind with?

Either way, it was noon. She had about 7 hours to relax before she had to prepare for her first date with Shadow. With anyone, for that matter.

The entirety of those hours, that was all she could look forward to. Wherever it was that their hearts placed them, he'd be decked out in a handsome tuxedo, and she'd be showing off a cute, flowy dress. No longer would this be something she could only daydream of. No longer was this something she could only see or hear. Finally, the experience was hers to control. Hers to take advantage of.

Who knew? Maybe they'd end up walking, and his hand would take a delicate hold of hers. Perhaps they'd somehow end up leaning against each other, either for warmth against the chill, or just to relish in something new. Something completely unforeseen. Possibly, he'd take her in his arms and hold her while he flew into the sky so they could see the world together… Hey, wait a second… Where did _that _come from?!

8 o'clock took forever to arrive, but when it was there, it seemed so unexpected. Rachel sat on her bed, in her black and white dress, her winter coat (which was actually a little longer than the dress), and black flats. The snow wasn't all that overwhelmingly plentiful.

She had looked off to the side when finally, her heart was jolted awake by the sound of 3 gentle, yet solid knocks on the door.

"He's here!" Rachel called, seemingly to nothingness. She then got up and opened the door, coming face to face with a new Shadow.

A Shadow she had never seen before. He was, indeed, decked out in a fancy tuxedo, but instead of some sort of rugged facial expression, he stared into Rachel's eyes with a bold smile on his face and a single red rose in his right hand, which he then held out to her.

"W-Why, thank you," said Rachel. "…How sweet!"

As she turned to find a glass and take the first step to preserving this rose's life, she was completely astounded. Where had this Shadow come from? He seemed to have gone from a collected, joy-hiding boy… to a man who seemed to be traced from the template of the man of her dreams. She could safely say that she was wooed.

Once the red rose was safely resting in a glass on her bedside table, she walked back over to Shadow, who suddenly took her hand.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted.

And suddenly, Rachel found herself on the snow-free, chilly shores of a beach. Emerald Coast, she presumed. The sun was reflecting beautifully off of the water. Heck, the sand wasn't even cold! All seemed right. It was Valentine's Day, and she was finally on a date.

Eventually, they decided on a place to sit down. The wind blew calmly through Rachel's hair, and she sat and faced the sunset, looking at both it and Shadow repeatedly. She wasn't sure which brought more warmth to her heart at the moment.

Every time Shadow looked at her, it was with a compassionate smile, and crimson eyes that almost seemed to sparkle with delight.

Then again… there was something in the sun as well.

Within a few seconds, she found herself getting lost in the view of the sun. This wouldn't have occurred if it weren't for its ever yielding brightness. It was already tucked in and had yet to fall asleep. It was simply a pink circle in the art-like sky.

Then, out of nowhere… came this. The very halt to all this joy she found in Shadow. Her mind was messing with her again… and this time, it was not even right. Not even remotely natural.

Yet, once again, it was Silver. The images… they felt so out of place that it made Rachel a little sick to her stomach.

What was it? The recollection of that Valentine's Day party from Dreamland, along with a variety of new instances.

The sun… she couldn't help but imagine running along the shoreline without that pesky winter coat on, being chased by Silver. The sun would bring true warmth instead of a misleading warm color.

The water… she couldn't help but imagine it looking inviting instead of cold.

Shadow… she couldn't help but imagine it being Silver…

*Shadow's POV*

In an attempt to get a good, long look into Rachel's eyes, Shadow sensed something abnormal in her concentration on the ever-dimming sunset. She had such… wistfulness in her eyes. Wistfulness that the common man would pass off as admiration of the sunset.

Shadow, however, knew better. That's when the reality of the situation's impact began to make sense. It hit him that she had acted differently around Silver these past couple of weeks.

Specifically, he remembered a question she had answered for him on yet another moonlit night.

"Why do you love spending so much time with Silver?" he had asked.

"Well…" Rachel had replied, _blushing_. "He's a great… f-friend."

Nobody should be that hesitant in mentioning a _friend_, he figured.

In Rachel's wistfulness, Shadow could finally make out a core. If nothing else, it was a mere possibility. Mere is exponentially larger than nonexistent.

Perhaps she…fancied him? The very thought riddled his system with poison.

He leaned against her… hoping that his warmth would convince her otherwise…

*Rachel's POV*

That was when she thankfully snapped back to reality. Back to the insipid mid-February sunset. Back to icy waters. Back to Shadow, who was suddenly leaning against her… like she had previously longed for…

"Are you okay?" Shadow asked. "You… zoned out."

"I… guess so," Rachel sighed, still recovering.

"…I-I understand it's kind of boring here this time of year," said Shadow. "…Let's move on." At that, he grabbed Rachel's hand. "Chaos Control!"

Rachel then found herself within town. You know, the town with the arcade. The town where by the handover of a wallet, she had met… _him_…

They ended up walking until they reached the park. It was completely abandoned, except for surprisingly clean heaps of snow.

She had no clue what Shadow had in mind. At all.

They approached a snow heap. While Rachel stood trying to piece the situation together, Shadow was carefully and quietly putting together… a snowball.

Within a second, Rachel felt something hit her shoulder and slide down and off of her coat. That was snow, she knew.

She looked up, seeing that the thrower of the snow was, indeed, Shadow. He gave a small chuckle and dug his hands into the snow heap again.

Rachel was no fool. She dashed over to another part of the heap and got herself a snowball. She only had another second before she felt Shadow's next shot hit the snow very close to her hand. She carefully inspected the ball for any ice, then hurled it Shadow's way. To her delight, it had hit him square on the chest.

At first, a twinge of guilt rammed her. That _was _a tuxedo he was wearing, after all.

To her relief, he looked back at her, laughed again, and made another snowball.

So many years had passed since she had had a legitimate snowball fight. She had teased to start one with Sonic in the past, but he'd always pout and complain that the snow was too cold.

20 more minutes found Shadow and Rachel completely tuckered out. They looked up and saw that the moon was shining more brightly than usual.

"Shouldn't you be getting home?" asked Shadow.

"I guess so," said Rachel.

They both found the forest trail and followed it to Rachel's cabin.

"This was fun," Rachel smiled. "I hope to see you again soon!"

As she walked inside, she could hear Shadow say "Sweet dreams, Rachel."

She then climbed into bed, bracing herself for another horribly dreamy battery of dreams about Silver. She knew that at this point, there was no escape. No escape at all from this newfound love for Silver.

*Shadow's POV*

The way she had told him "This was fun"… He had known that the circumstances were light years from remotely romantic. The beach was all he could think of, and by the time they had gotten there, it had dawned on him that winter was still very much in the air. The snowball fight was a last minute decision, and it turned out to be the saving grace to the night.

The way she told him that… was exactly the same way she told him that Silver was simply a great friend. She was far from a cheating liar, and only because he knew she had the proper reasoning.

He skated away from the cabin, thinking about the possibility over and over again. Every time it ran across his mind, it became more and more secure of a belief.

The possibility that that coveted spot in her heart belonged to Silver, and _he_ didn't even have to know it.

* * *

**Author's note: I feel like I sort of went on a bit long there at the end, and if you thoroughly believe that, I'm sorry. My legs hurt. It's been another long day. But you know what else I've realized? I'm going to be kinda sad when this fanfiction comes to a close. Out of anything that's in-progress at this moment, this fanfiction provokes more of my thoughts and emotions than I ever thought possible. I have to give a shout out to a new friend of mine who's been selflessly spreading the word about this fanfic as well. RCTSG… thank you. Simply thank you. I hope my fans take a liking to your story as well. (*cough* Check out RCTSG's story "WATCHMAN OF MOBIUS" *cough* *hack*)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: I feel like I should issue a Cheesiness Warning for this as well… but I guess it depends on the definition of "cheesy."**

* * *

*Rachel's POV*

Dreams of an everlasting warmth crowned Rachel all night that night.

Hiding behind a mask of assumptions was the face that spoke the truth of Rachel's lifelong situation. It wasn't until she truly dived into it that she realized what it really was. It wasn't until she had developed feelings for Silver that she realized what love was. That fog that some other people called "mush" was no longer a myth. Romance was no longer a novel. It was a movie, and she had the role of the victim rather than the sideline dreamer.

Yet there was that last thing that Silver, surprisingly enough, had absolutely _no_ role in.

It wasn't until Rachel arrived at Dreamland did she realize that all along… she had simply been unsure of herself. All along being her entire life before that chilly, seemingly dismal Valentine's Night. It wasn't that she was alone, or that she wasn't valuable. All along, it was simply that she had no clue who she was, or what her place was.

That's really all she could speak of it. Any other detail was entirely too shrouded in oblivion.

But still, when she woke up that morning, she awoke to the realization beaming to her like the morning sunlight. Whatever it was that Shadow had done the previous night, it made her realize that she was valuable. That she was meant to be a living being on Mobius. That her chasing her dreams, whatever those were to be, was perfectly welcome.

That her happiness… was meant to be. She wasn't anything but grateful to Shadow for that.

But how would she thank him without coming off as creepy or strange?

Indeed, she would learn later… there was yet another mysterious barrier between herself and total courage.

She slipped on her coat and opened the door, totally focused on finding Shadow for once. For once in forever, it was _Shadow _that made her smile the most. It was _him_ that she wanted to spend the day with… and possibly forever?

She ventured to the edge of the forest again, where she caught sight of Sonic. That seemed new, actually.

What should have caught her eye was that he wasn't happily running around like usual. He casually leaned up against a snow-misted tree, not even conversing with anyone…. He simply looked around and gave a solemn sigh here and there.

Rachel was almost scared to bother him.

"H-Hi," she murmured.

Sonic looked up, his eyes lighting up immensely when he saw Rachel.

"Hey!" he smiled, standing more upright. "What's up?"

"Not much, as usual," Rachel sighed. "I dunno what to do with my life, really. Maybe I should look for a job so that when I turn 18, I can get my own place. My own little area where I can sing and not worry about bothering anyone."

"Bother anyone?" Sonic shrugged. "I've only heard good about your voice."

"W-Well, still, though," Rachel continued. "It'd be cool to have a place that I can decorate any way I want to.

"My home's pretty much the great outdoors," Sonic sighed, leaning back up against the tree. "I mean, I have a couple of siblings who live in a house, and I _technically _live there, too, but I pretty much only sleep there this time of year."

"Ah," Rachel nodded.

"…Arcade?" asked Sonic, perking up a bit.

"Sure, why not?" Rachel smiled.

At that, they both walked to the arcade. Same route as usual: A few steps on soaking, cold grass, then steps down water-glazed pavement alongside gray, polluted snow. You know the time of year if you live somewhere where it snows. At first, the white, fluffy stuff is actually white, fluffy, and beautiful. When it reaches its end, it becomes utterly disgusting.

However, when they reached the doors, they found the manager there, fidgeting with his keys, locking the door, and putting up an explanatory sign.

The manager? Mr. Spencer Ricardo, someone who started out as a clown for kid's birthday parties. He was fired immediately after it was announced that being a clown was a long dead business. He then worked at a pizza place as the tech guy, fixing the place's animatronic animals when they broke. He was fired from that, and soon after, the place was the preferred spot for gangs to hold their initiations, so it was closed down. Now, he was here, working most of the arcade. Rachel remembered hearing this section of his life story while leaning up against the ticket counter alongside Sonic. Rachel constantly had to remind Sonic of bits and pieces of it… because focusing on it was difficult, even for her. Simply the waves of putrid odor that radiated from Spencer… Sonic and Rachel were just barely able to succeed in masking their total disgust.

Enough about that, though. Sonic quickly walked up to the sign on the door and scanned it over.

"Looks like their pipes froze," Sonic sighed.

"Yep," said Spencer. "What's a working arcade without a working restroom?"

"Well," said Rachel. "There's other stuff in this town."

"You sure?" asked Sonic. "Most of it is packed with expensively priced, extravagantly displayed girl's clothing."

"There has to be a nerd place in this town," Rachel huffed.

"We can look for one," Sonic smiled.

"Sure, why not?" Rachel shrugged.

At that, they walked a mile deeper into the bustling town. Saturdays… when the sidewalk traffic made travel a form of dance, and the actual road traffic was a test in itself.

Eventually, Rachel set eyes on the sign of the store that seemed to paint disgust over the glamour of all the surrounding places. F.Y.E, one of the most Heaven-like places for a nerd. They certainly didn't have everything, but everywhere else she could ever look had not half of that perfect nerd stuff that F.Y.E had.

They walked in, almost immediately being caught off guard by that type of atmosphere where the ability to dodge could very possibly become necessary.

And they soon knew why.

By the back wall (the one with all the anime DVDs), they spotted Blaze. She appeared to be running from something. She dashed around the corner, zooming past the shelf of graphic tees.

And almost like that one scratch in the DVD where it skips right as the movie gets extremely captivating… There was Silver, chasing after Blaze with a cardboard monster head over his own head.

This was what she needed. To be pushed back into a pool of confusion and futile thinking. Was it that she necessarily wanted to _avoid _Silver just because she knew he would throw off the mindset that Shadow had given her? Nah, it couldn't be that drastic. She was still in love with the guy. That, she couldn't deny, no matter what.

She noticed that Sonic had stepped into the action, picking up a nearby foam sword and standing in between Silver and Blaze, putting himself in the place of a dragon slayer. All he did was hit Silver's "head" once with it, and Silver faked a death. Rachel couldn't help but giggle.

She couldn't be bothered to focus on it, but Shadow had been forgotten… yet again.

Silver then got up, took the monster head off, and put it back in its original spot. Sonic did the same with the sword.

"What brings you here?" Blaze asked with a cheerful smile.

"Boredom," Sonic shrugged.

Rachel added "We were cursed with the ancient spell of boredom by a wizard named… life." Being around Silver, that statement sounded disgustingly stupid for a second.

But to her joy, Silver actually chuckled a bit at that statement.

"We were cast the same spell," he said.

"This is completely unrelated, but do you know what I feel like doing?" said Sonic. "Dodgeball."

Rachel's ears perked up a bit. An athlete, she was not, and never would be. Yet there was something about dodgeball that was so much fun to her.

"Hey, that sounds like fun!" said Silver. "…But do we have the dodgeballs?"

"We could probably get a sack of them from the local gym," Sonic replied. "Who's in?! Raise your hands!"

Every one of them, except for Blaze, raised a hand.

"Aw, come on, Blaze!" Silver jokingly whined. "It'll be fun!"

"Maybe for you three," Blaze sighed. "…Then again, that won't work as far as teams go, will it?"

"That's the spirit!" Silver cheered.

"And don't go easy on me, either," said Blaze, surprising the other three immensely. "If I'm doing this, I want a challenge."

About an hour later found them at the town's YMCA, where surprisingly enough, there were only a few people scattered about. Just a few in the fitness room, a couple up on the track, and our main characters in the gym, with a pile of dodgeballs.

"Alright," Sonic began. "What do we do about teams?"

"I'll pick a number between 1 and 20 in my head," said Silver. "Then, you all pick a number, and whichever one's closest is on my team!"

"Gotcha!" Sonic cheered.

Here's how it went. Once Silver gave the signal, the rest of them said a random number between 1 and 20, like instructed. Sonic had picked 12, Blaze had picked 13, and Rachel picked 10.

"Alright," Silver announced. "My number was 9!"

It took a second for it to sink in, but when it did, Rachel froze. That totally meant that she and _Silver _were a team. She and Silver, this guy that she had pretty much fallen for, were going to be working rather closely together on something, even if it was just a short game.

No matter how short, it meant the world to her.

It gave her a bit of relief when she saw that Sonic's cheeks had even an essence of a rosy color on them. This also meant that he was going to be working with the girl he fancied. She wasn't alone on this.

However, she was ever so slightly afraid. Once the game started, it was basically a mad dash for the dodgeballs, which were all in the same area. Everyone was prone to being hit right off the bat.

Each team separated to opposite sides of the gym. Sonic and Blaze huddled, appearing to be forming a game plan.

And as Rachel would soon learn, she and Silver were on the same page.

"If we both go up there at the same time," he said quietly. "we're completely vulnerable. I say that for that first moment, we set up an offense and defense system. One of us goes up, and one of us hangs back."

"I'll be defense," Rachel sighed. "I have to warn you real quick. I'm good at accuracy throwing, but horrible at power throwing."

"We should still be okay," Silver smiled. "We're smart." He suddenly put a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "And if we're smart, we have a great fighting chance."

He then let go of her shoulder, and they both turned around to begin.

Sure, Rachel was focused on the game, but deep inside, she was still recovering. Recovering from the rush of Silver's touch.

Once Sonic shouted "Go!", Rachel realized that the opposing team must have been thinking the same thing. Both Sonic and Silver went up to the dodgeball piles, picking a couple of them up, and running back, tossing a couple at each other in the process. Neither hedgehog was hit.

"Wait, hold on!" Sonic shouted. "Don't we need some ground rules?"

"True," Silver nodded. "If a ball hits the head, it doesn't count."

"And if a boy goes to throw at a girl," added Sonic. "he has to do so with the non-dominant hand. Alright, are we good?"

"Sounds good to me," Silver nodded.

And the game continued. Dodgeballs sailed across the room and into walls. Surprisingly enough, it took a full minute before anyone was hit with a dodgeball, and that turned out to be Blaze. She went over and sat on the sideline patiently while Silver and Rachel worked to knock Sonic out of the game. Within 30 short seconds, Sonic successfully launched a ball into Silver's knee. He went over and sat by Blaze, joining her in the eager viewing of what was now a 1-on-1 game.

That game ended within 30 seconds, when Rachel was able to hurl a ball toward Sonic and into his knee.

"Well, that's it!" Silver said, getting up, then helping Blaze up. "We won!"

"Good game, everyone!" said Sonic, walking over to Blaze and giving her a high-five. Silver then walked over to Rachel and gave her a high-five as well.

"Nice throw!" he smiled. "And nice dodging as well! I guess you wouldn't go down without a fight!"

"I guess not," Rachel replied with a smile.

Deep down, that smile hid the truth. Here, perseverance reigned because any attacks were coming from the outside world. In the form of rubber dodgeballs.

"I must be leaving now," said Blaze, walking toward the gym doors.

"I have to go as well," Silver sighed. "…To be totally honest, I don't feel right. I need to sort of peek in on what Eggman Nega's up to."

"Good luck on that!" Sonic smiled.

At that, everyone left the gym, and each pair went their separate ways, Sonic with Rachel and Silver with Blaze.

As they walked, Rachel noticed that Sonic was a little tense. His eyes weren't as vibrant as normal.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"…You know what?" Sonic replied. "You're one of my best friends. Well, you're the best I can talk to about what goes on in the heart. I just… worry about Silver and Blaze."

It was like Rachel's stomach had just been pierced with an arrow.

"W-Why's that?" she asked.

"The way Silver helped her up like that," Sonic sighed. "The way he seems to cherish her… I think he likes her."

It was like Rachel's heart had been pierced with an arrow as well. Why, of all things, was this the news he had to utter? Granted, he trusted that she would listen to him, but still.

This is where the tirade began. It began like a severe thunderstorm in the sky, striking brutally and gradually increasing in strength with every few seconds that went by.

Her entire life, Rachel had been strong when those behind her fell weak. She had never let much get to her. She'd be calm and level-headed when someone else in the same situation would be completely pissed off. She had always been that one girl with the iron heart. The girl who knew how to cast deadly optimism to combat the grimness in a situation.

That iron shield cracked and fell off at this moment. Her odd-defying optimism spell had always worked in the past, but that was simply what courage was left in her system. What was left after cancer killed her father, a long 10 years ago. It was this "natural" courage that had let her prevail her entire life… until now.

Now, that true courage that was taken from her at age 5 was desperately needed. She just didn't have the strength to deny that Sonic was probably right. It just… wasn't there.

That iron fist she ruled over life with had been knocked clean off of her hand. She was weak… defenseless against this tirade.

"I… have to go home now," Rachel explained, surprised that the tears had held off this long. "Mom probably wants me back for lunch."

Without another word to be said, or heard, she dashed for home, where, on her bedside table, there was a plate of lunch. Two slices of leftover, super cheesy pizza, and some chips on the side.

She ate a little more quickly than usual, casting her plate off to the side and curling up on her bed under the blankets.

This couldn't be true. She couldn't deny that if a statement like that could make her fall this ill with emotion, she was definitely dealing with something more deadly than simple love.

She may very possibly have been dealing with the soulmate concept.

She was so blinded by worry… by recurring thoughts and daydreams of Silver… that she didn't realize that what was right in front of her would very possibly save her life.

*Silver's POV*

He arrived at the metal building with watchful and eager eyes. The same building he had rescued Rachel from HAD to be housing a new invention of Nega's. His gut had been bothering him about it all day. He had played dodgeball with the others to try to shake it off, but it stuck around and strengthened, so he gave in and decided to give the place a look.

Within the third window, he caught the perfect sight of what he had been looking for. An event of interest… a new invention being perfected by Eggman Nega.

All he knew at the moment was that it appeared to be a glass chamber with a faint, grayish-bluish glow to it. What he'd know later would change his outlook on just about everything.

* * *

**Author's note: One more shout out to werewolf99 for letting me put an OC of his into a cameo role! Thanks, man! And holy mother of Cheez-Its, it's a huge cliffhanger!... Yes, Cheez-Its. I love them, and I am a fan of Markiplier. Markiplier and Cheez-Its go together, right?**


	10. Chapter 10

*Rachel's POV*

The tears on Rachel's face had dried miraculously by the time twilight rolled around. This "natural strength" had stepped in to assist her in avoiding the point of complete insanity. By the time the sun set, it seemed almost like she was not drowning in despair at all.

For the first time in her entire life, the concept of boredom seemed nonexistent. She spent all day trying to figure everything out. It didn't help that Silver was involved in every one of her aching thoughts.

The thoughts were ever changing, and whizzing around so quickly that she couldn't concentrate.

She just… couldn't stop thinking about him. His voice kept playing over and over in her head. The moment when he was chasing Blaze with the monster head was stuck on replay. She occasionally touched her shoulder, trying to replicate that enriching rush that came when it was Silver's hand rather than her own.

She didn't even realize that this soon would become something deadly. Normally, the abundant possibilities were second-nature to her thoughts, but now… Silver was literally all she could think about. She didn't even pick up on the fact that a great abnormality was present in this. That this actually wasn't normal.

Silver, without knowing or wanting to, would soon take control of her.

She fell asleep rather quickly, waking up the next day with not a clue of what she had dreamt.

She couldn't bring herself to stand up. To get on her feet and take in the perfectly overcast day that awaited her.

Eventually, her mother walked by, noticing the fact that Rachel was still there.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You're usually outside with Sonic and the others!"

Her mother's suspicion only made Rachel come close to tears again.

"I'm still… tired," she replied.

"Well… alright," her mother agreed.

And so, Rachel waited patiently in her bed for night to come. She soon realized that she was in a deep depression. She laid not only in sadness, but in pain as well. Heartbreak, she realized, is an actual type of ache. Her heart was heavy, almost ready to crack from the pressure. The pressure of the mere possibility that Silver was meant to be with another.

She couldn't even think of anyone else. Not Sonic. Not Shadow. Just Silver, and usually Blaze. How they were so happy together. How when it came to destiny, them as a pair seemed terribly harmonious.

How she didn't have a chance, and probably never would.

By the time the evening came around, she was finally able to sit up, yet nothing else had changed.

She knew her heart was beginning to wilt. She felt as if little parts of it were floating away and into oblivion, one by one.

Silver… her first love… was very possibly deeply in love with someone other than her. Such a tirade of emotion had never hit her before, and she never thought it to be possible.

She soon figured out that he _had _to be her destined soulmate… her perfect, irreplaceable match… for her to be so devastated.

But did she have the courage to be brave? To try to consider the possibility that maybe, Blaze wasn't who he had his sights on? To attack her fears with her historically effective optimism?

No. It was gone. This grim situation was just too much.

She was tied up in her thoughts… Reality was almost completely shrouded in oblivion.

*Shadow's POV*

After Shadow's date with Rachel, his love for her was no longer something he worried about. Instead, he cherished it. Rather than a shy hedgehog, pacing around and trying to figure out how not to reveal too much to Rachel, he was a dreamy lover boy, smiling whenever he thought of her. He focused on her beauty rather than his demeanor.

A couple of days after that, however, he began to worry a little bit. He hadn't seen her around at all, and he hadn't heard much from the others. Who knew what could have happened to her?

Eventually, on a starry night, that worry took control of his feet. From right where he was standing, he suddenly threw in the towel and headed toward Rachel's cabin. Recurring thoughts of gruesome possibilities would not leave him alone, and they all became too much for him to ignore.

As soon as the cabin was within sight, however, he heard an "Oh! Shadow!" from behind him. It startled him, having him stop in his tracks and turn around.

Of all people… it was Silver. The one he believed may have been stealing Rachel's heart from his grasp.

"…Hmph," he said. "Greetings."

"I've been meaning to try and catch you, but I kept forgetting," said Silver. "That, and you're always all over the place."

"What do you need?!" asked Shadow, not realizing until a second later how frustrated he sounded.

"…Well," Silver replied. "…I told Blaze this already, but… I dunno. I spied a little on Eggman Nega the other day, seeing that he's made a new machine of some sort."

"Hmm," said Shadow, actually a little taken aback.

"It's so shiny and new," Silver continued. "I've got this _bad _feeling that he's planning on using it… soon. Just figured I'd make sure you were alert. Let me know if anything unusual happens."

At that, he walked away.

Well… he couldn't be all mad at Silver. If he _did _have a hold of Rachel's heart, he didn't know it. It just kinda dissed him that he wasn't even trying.

(The next day)

Shadow decided that after waiting a few hours, he'd try heading to Rachel's cabin again. The sun was barely peeking out over the horizon. She was probably still asleep.

After impatiently waiting said few hours, he sped in the direction of the cabin, and as he got closer and closer, he thought he could hear… despair?

Despair indeed. As Shadow approached the cabin, he saw Silver having some sort of discussion with Rachel's mother. Well, it was more that Silver was trying to comfort her. She seemed unable to speak, and her face was covered in tears.

"…Shadow!" said Silver, turning to him. "There you are!"

"What's going on?!" asked Shadow, turning to face Rachel's mother. "…W-Where's Rachel?"

"…Shadow," she sobbed. "It was really late last night… I heard her scream, then I heard the front door slam shut… She's gone!"

Silver gasped in utter shock, and Shadow cried "WHAT?!"

"I have no clue what could have happened!" she continued to cry. "I feel pretty sure that someone's gone and kidnapped her!" At that, she had another tearful breakdown.

"Don't worry," said Silver. "If that's the case, we will do absolutely anything we can to rescue her!"

Silver's optimism was both a little frustrating and a little comforting. For all he knew, Rachel could be _dead_… but there was always the lingering possibility that she was safe. He had to make sure the latter was true. Not only now, but always.

* * *

**Author's note: Indeed. Heads up if you've made it this far: The beginning of the next chapter will be Rachel's POV of the previous night. The night when it all went down. A review would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you, and have a great day! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

*Rachel's POV* (The previous night)

The night felt so silent… Empty, completely lacking in purity and in meaning… Of course, Rachel had just about wailed her heart out over something that would turn out to change her life forever.

She woke up, a little surprised at how dark the morning seemed to be.

She looked out the window. Oh, wait… it was the middle of the night. _Technically _morning… but not nonetheless.

She had awakened not out of pure chance, but because the tiniest of noises had bypassed that "REM sleep barrier" that's able to block out any other noise. She didn't know what it was.

Until it decided to repeat itself. A small creak in the floorboards… She froze to the spot. That _wasn't _natural at all. Maybe, if someone was out to get her, her completely stationary position would convince them that she wasn't there.

But that had to be ridiculous. Nobody was out to get her! Ha! Wait… right?

Not. No later than she could restore faith in her surroundings, the creaking in the floor turned to a step on the floor. Following that step was a couple of long, skinny, sleeved arms grabbing her and hoisting her up to her kidnapper's shoulder. She screamed, yet she figured that based on her luck, her scream was futile.

She thought she had an idea on who this person may have been… and she'd soon know herself to be correct.

He slammed the front door and carried her out to his small flying ship, and that was when she knew. Silver had practically "stolen" her from him. Of course he'd be back…

He placed her in the ship, then getting in himself and having the ship take off, back into the skies.

Rachel caught sight of that whitish-grayish mustache in the unfittingly bright moonlight. It was more disgustingly ugly than ever. It belonged to someone who saw her weakness as an advantage.

Yet she decided not to say a word. What sort of "You'll pay for this!" or "You'll never get away with this!" or "Let me go!" was going to help her out here? It hadn't worked for anyone else.

This was Eggman Nega… probably the most genius of an evil genius out there.

She looked back at her cabin once more. Was that the last time she'd ever see it?

They arrived at his base at last. They got out of the ship, and as they walked inside, he kept a firm hand on her shoulder. There was just no chance. Everything was happening entirely too quickly. On top of that, she wasn't sure what was going to happen. Was she walking into hospitality or death? Her confidence was dropping fast…

They continued walking until they arrived at a laboratory. They walked in, and he shut and locked the door, finally letting go of Rachel's shoulder.

"I understand you're a little fatigued," he sighed. "But I had to get you here as soon as I could. Was being my assistance not enough of a motive for you? Well, this time, you're the _key _to my victory! If you'll look to your left, please…"

She looked, catching sight of a rather vibrantly-presented machine. The blue glow coming from its superhuman-sized glass chamber explained its importance well enough. She couldn't be…

"That's my new mitochondriatic chamber!" Eggman Nega chuckled loudly. "Mitochondriatic is a word exclusive to my dictionary, for it will act much like the mitochondria to my laser! You know… the powerhouse. Now, where you come in, Miss Rachel… This chamber will feed off of something a little different than anything ever patented before. I've had assistance robots snoop around through the snow, to sort of locate what they could find an abundance of. We were first thinking it was going to be soil, or energy waves from Mobius's mantle or something other than… well, yourself. The robots located that abundance in you. They picked up overwhelming waves of sadness and heartbreak coming from beneath the cabin."

"So…" Rachel finally spoke, trying not to break down into said sadness. "You're going to try and feed off of my depression to power-"

"A death laser!" Eggman Nega smiled. "Precisely. Where's all the charge going? Underground, to an engine on wheels. Able to store more intense energy than anything else in the universe. And it's on wheels! Now, then… I'll sort of stretch out the chamber for you, so you can get a good night's rest in it…"

He then walked over to the chamber, bent down, and pressed a few buttons. Almost like magic, the walls and floor of it stretched out. It was almost like the edges were made of a bungee cord type material… and as if the walls weren't even glass…

Suddenly, after that, Rachel spotted a staircase leading to the opening on the top. She gulped. Was this the beginning of the end?

"Go on, now," Eggman Nega kept smiling. "I'll throw a pillow and a blanket in there for you. I mean… I have to commend you. I'm feeding off of your deepest, darkest, innermost emotions in order to fuel my victory. The least I can do is make sure you're comfortable."

Now, Rachel truly wasn't sure what to do. Climbing into the chamber would show complete cooperation, and that was not what she wanted at all. She knew that once she got in there… could she ever get out?

Yet at the same time, her weakness was blocking her from the mere thought of backing out. Eggman Nega was standing right behind her, waiting impatiently for her to follow his orders. The only way out of here was locked, and 3 inches thick with steel.

Suddenly, she was being pushed. Nega was pushing her constantly until she was forced to climb the staircase and land feet-first into the chamber. Surprisingly, the chamber was translucent. She had _a _view, at the very least. Even though it was the view of a dismal laboratory that wasn't her own… filled with evil, and darkened even further by the eternal night.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" said Eggman Nega.

At that next moment, Rachel felt a thick, brown-colored blanket and a fluffy pink pillow pelt her on the head.

Then, she heard the door to the lab open and close. That additional whirring of technology that she could only assume was the locks and security systems stole even more of what hope she had left.

All she could do was lay herself and the pillow down on the cold, glass floor, cover herself with the blanket, and fall into slumber. Indeed… she had not gotten enough rest by the time Eggman Nega had nabbed her.

When she opened her eyes and saw that the lab was lit with the morning's falsely hopeful light… at least the place was a little less dismal. But dismal nonetheless.

Suddenly, she caught sight of something on the wall. Something that seemed to be showing some sort of reading on a meter… that was clearly connected to her prison of a chamber.

Out of utter curiosity, she put her face up to the glass and tried to make out what she could. The blackened needle was a little more to the left of the middle, and as with any pressure meter, the further to the right you looked, the closer and closer to the color red it appeared. The needle was on a yellow-green color, constantly twitching, waiting impatiently to move yet another notch to the right.

Here, Rachel began to read the text below it.

**Do not deactivate chamber until the hose connecting it to the engine has been properly disconnected from either end. Leaving the hose connected when the chamber is deactivated poses high risk of the electrical energy bouncing back and severely injuring or killing the subject. It is not recommended that you use collected energy until engine is full, or when the gauge's needle is all the way to the right.**

Oh… how badly Rachel wished she could climb out and find a way to disconnect the chamber from wherever this engine was. According to the meter, she had given some energy to the engine. When she looked out at it again, she saw that it had collected even more since last check.

She could see that. Through the utter fear of being cooped up within a part of Eggman Nega's ultimate scheme, she hadn't shaken her depression from just hours before. The fact that Silver still probably wasn't hers and was Blaze's. She couldn't even be sure that she even mattered to Silver, and that he wasn't just being nice to her in order to avoid having to see her disappointment.

She would have tried to climb out. Her shoes provided excellent friction, and she was somewhat of a strong person.

It's just that now, any strength she had left was in her muscles… and not the muscles of her heart, soul, or mind. Merely her body. She needed strength in the other 3 places in order for anything to take place.

It just wasn't there. She was trapped in the belief that there was nothing she could do.

*Shadow's POV*

Rachel's mother went back inside the cabin. Shadow knew that more than anything, she'd be anxiously awaiting the return of her daughter.

Her daughter was the love of his life. Even though he had to work with someone he had every reason to see as an opponent… they were both aiming for a goal that would bring benefit to both of them. Rachel's safety was more important than anything else at the moment.

"There's no other explanation," said Silver. "There's just no way that her kidnapper is anyone other than Eggman Nega! Clearly, she provides him with a great advantage. Who knows what he's up to now?"

"Let's GO!" Shadow huffed, getting into a running start kind of stance.

"Yes," Silver nodded. "Just follow my lead!"

At that, Silver levitated into the air a bit before flying away. Shadow anxiously followed him on foot. Hopefully, the base wasn't too far away. He'd soon learn that every second was crucial.

*Rachel's POV*

Later that day, Eggman Nega came back into the lab, and merely to check the meter beside the chamber.

"Ah, yes," he chuckled. "Even better than I anticipated. Perfect! Beautifully perfect! Once the engine is full, I can finally burn that stupid perceptive, telekinetic hedgehog to a crisp! And possibly that fire-breathing cat, and anyone else who tries to get in my way!"

As Eggman Nega walked back out, laughing maniacally, sadness and fear were hard to fend off for Rachel. Her sadness was going to be the cause of Silver's death? And there was nothing she could do?!

At this rate, she would have succumbed totally to the pain if it weren't putting lives in jeopardy. Other than that one crucial point… what was the point anymore?

* * *

**Author's note: Shout-out to one of the best authors I've **_**ever **_**come across, RCTSG! Yes, feel free to applaud. He is a marvelous fanfiction writer, as well as that kind of friend that there needs to be more of in this world. **_**Please**_**, if you enjoy my work, check out his story "WATCHMAN OF MOBIUS"!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: A lot of POV switching in this one. Prepare for that.**

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*Shadow's POV*

After a painful minute of searching through frosted trees, Shadow finally found himself following Silver toward a tall, rectangular steel building. If this wasn't it… really, what was?

Silver landed, and they both crept toward the front door. Shadow got into his soldier mindset. Whatever waited behind that door was going to be a cakewalk. And even if it wasn't, he'd destroy it all… just to save Rachel.

He looked at Silver, who actually had a twinge of fear visible in his eyes. This made Shadow not fearful or worried… but ever so slightly uneasy. He'd heard that Silver had singlehandedly defeated this Eggman Nega. That Silver was to Nega like Sonic was to regular old Eggman.

He had no time to worry about something so small.

"Ready?" asked Silver.

"I have been since you told me this guy kidnapped Rachel the _first _time," Shadow replied, getting a firm grasp on the door handle. "Let's move it."

At that, they both opened the door… encountering nothing but emptiness, and what light crept in through the periodic window in this long corridor. Wait. No robots? No alarms, or reinforcement of some sort? What kind of evil genius was Nega?

"…We're probably just _real _lucky right now," Silver whispered. "Keep an eye out for Rachel, and don't let your guard down."

Shadow merely nodded. Caution in every step, they practically tiptoed quickly down the hallway. Still, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Until merely a second later, nothing happened, that is.

A few more forceful, surefire footsteps could be heard from behind them before a voice growled "Agh! Pesky hedgehogs!"

Shadow turned around to get his first true glimpse of Dr. Eggman Nega. He knew this to be not only the guy, but the _type_ of guy to kidnap someone like Rachel. It must have been something in the white, menacing mustache.

"Cut the chat," Shadow growled, taking a step forward, startling Silver a bit. "Where is she?"

"Hmm," Eggman Nega pondered. "...Try looking in your dreams. I know who you're here for. Great company, that one."

"We'd really like her back," Silver growled in response. "What have you done with her?"

"I'm afraid you're too late, silver one," Nega chuckled. "My progress has only grown to be perpetual. Even if you were to find her, my latest resource to victory will already be available to me. You're first on the list… for me to use it on."

All of this banter was getting nowhere. Seconds that could be used to locate and rescue Rachel were only being wasted on mindless, futile banters. Like a bullet being shot from his gut, a fury exploded within him. He had had enough.

"CHAOS… SPEAR!" he cried.

From his hand and directly toward Eggman Nega sped a bolt of pure Chaos Energy.

It made a direct hit, pinning Nega to the ground before disappearing.

"Book it!" cried Shadow, getting ready to continue down the hallway.

"Hang on!" Silver said. "What if he gets back up and calls for reinforcement in hunting us down? One of us should stay here and keep him immobile. Hopefully, it'll teach him to leave us alone as well."

As Silver stated this, and for a bit of time afterward, Shadow could only stare at him. Aside from Rachel… it had been a while since he had been around anyone he actually… wanted to rely on. Silver seemed to know what he was doing. He seemed to be thinking everything through and considering every little possibility, no matter how slim of a chance it had. That was the mark of a truly great hero.

Although Silver may have been stealing the heart of the one Shadow loved without even trying or knowing… he saw him as a great comrade during this dire time. Shadow could completely trust him.

"I'll stay here," said Shadow, walking toward Eggman Nega, who appeared to be halfway to getting up. "For all we know, Rachel could be behind locked doors. You'll be able to move them." He looked Silver sincerely in the eye. "I trust you. Just… please… find her. Find her, and let me know somehow when you do. She needs to be out of here safe. That's all that matters."

All Silver could do was nod before dashing down the hallway in search.

What did Shadow do? He taught Eggman Nega a lesson, that's for sure. Just about killed the guy. Every time he'd be about to get back up on his feet, Shadow used Chaos Spear on him.

It was like that for long minutes, which felt like long hours. After the first ten, Shadow grew worried. The place certainly didn't look this big from the outside. Had Silver gotten into a scuffle with robots of Eggman Nega's creation? Had he fallen in battle? Or had he seriously not located Rachel yet?

With every second, all he could wonder was where they were…

*Rachel's POV*

Rachel was merely waiting there in that chamber. Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone to possibly barge in and save her… like last time.

Then, to her utter horror, she heard hissing. At the same moment, her nose was being filled with the smell of fresh, clean, early-spring humidity. The kind that only comes right after rain.

She looked up to see that what she was smelling was really a glowing, blue mist that was being sprayed from the top rims.

Not long after that, she felt herself begin to grow fatigued. Woozy, her eyelids merely dropped, and so did she.

Everything just blacked out. A preset sedative dose. She should have figured as such, considering the fact that Eggman Nega _did _tell her how to give off energy…

Still, the tears would not give a second thought. They kept flowing, like pure waterfalls of stinging, salty hopelessness. Rachel would have tried to stop them, knowing that it was all leading up to something that could kill Silver.

But she just… couldn't. Even if she was awake. Being free of this chamber, she just knew she'd be driven to try suicide. It was all too much. A force more huge than anything she thought possible. Trying not to cry merely made her cry harder.

Behind her, the meter on the wall was officially at the halfway point.

She could normally find it in her to take a few deep breaths and assure herself that everything was going to be alright.

It just wasn't in her. She couldn't do it. Any strength she normally would have had was completely absent.

At this point, she knew she had broken down… and given up.

It wasn't even the fact that she was trapped in this chamber.

All of this distress… every little drop of sadness, and every smidgen of pure distress… had rooted from her belief that Silver liked Blaze.

Even she didn't know how it still bothered her when the possibility of her being sentenced to life in a chamber was lingering just above her head. She was that submerged in her love for Silver… He had become her everything. Her inspiration, her love… and her life as a whole.

Finally, she had found someone who she could connect with on every level proven possible, and effectively at the same time… and it may all have been for nothing.

The courage wasn't there, like it definitely should have been. She had officially given up all hope. She had forgotten what it was like to have strength. She had forgotten what to do, what to think, and how to see positives.

She had… might I say, completely forgotten her way. Now, she wasn't even awake to try and find it again.

*Silver's POV*

Silver stepped into every open door and gave the room lying within a thorough scan before moving on. Every empty room he encountered made him more and more worried. After 5 rooms or so of nothing but tables, test tubes, emptiness, and windows, that worry turned to pure fear.

Rachel was well on the path to becoming a rather dear friend to him. Even more dear than Blaze, for that matter. And she was nowhere to be found at the headquarters of a man who sacrificed a lot of tech money for biological studies and resources. That was why he only had 10 or so robots.

Then, Silver came upon the first closed door. Every other door was open… and he could hear an ominous humming coming from behind the door.

Immediately, he put his psychokinesis into action, using it to rip the door off of its hinges.

He knew that he had found a key room when he noticed that in the dead center of a wall he was facing, there was that same machine he had spotted through a window, while it was likely still in construction. Now, it glowed a brilliant blue.

And when he looked a little closer, he found her. Rachel. She was lying face-first on the chamber's floor. He figured she had been knocked out. Maybe by a sedative of some sort?

He ran up to the chamber and first tried saying "Rachel! Are you alright? Can you hear me?!"

*Shadow's POV*

Spearing this guy over and over was beginning to grow tiring. Shadow wouldn't have to continue it for long.

He had let his guard down when he figured that Eggman Nega was finally down for the count.

Little did he know that he was being faked out. Less than 5 seconds later, Nega got up and completely passed Shadow as he headed down the hallway. Growling, Shadow chased him until they reached a laboratory-like room.

Within the same room was Silver, who _was _trying to get through to a sedated Rachel, until Shadow and Nega came in, that is.

"Well," said Nega. "It appears the sedative worked. I'm going to have to ask you guys-"

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow shouted once more, sending another bolt of pure Chaos energy toward none other than Nega's head. This time, Nega was not only pinned to the ground, but knocked out himself.

Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport himself into the chamber with Rachel… instantly being met with a shocking noise from above him.

"No!" Silver cried from outside.

Shadow looked up… seeing that an opaque surface had closed up the top. A.K.A. the entrance AND exit.

"Damn!" Shadow growled, banging a fist against the wall.

"We should focus on what this thing even is," said Silver, walking toward a flexible tube that seemed to be connected to the chamber and the floor. This chamber was very possibly taking energy and using it to either stock or fuel something underground.

After a minute or so of pondering, Silver asked "Do you feel any different in there, Shadow? Like, hurt, or like something's being sucked out of you?"

"…No," Shadow replied in amazement.

"Then clearly, it's something she has that you don't," Silver sighed. "That makes things only slightly more difficult. I'll keep looking for clues. Let me know if Rachel wakes up."

Shadow nodded, directing his eyes back to Rachel and putting his hand on her shoulder. Poor thing… Wait a second…

"CHAOS CONTROL!" he cried, in hopes that the idea he had just come up with would work.

Unfortunately, it did not.

"Uh oh," said Silver. "Your Chaos Control's not working?!"

"No!" Shadow growled. "Now I'M stuck in here, too!"

After a few more seconds of looking at signs, in corners, and under flaps, Silver cried "AHA! I think I've found what this thing's sucking from Rachel!"

"What is it?!" asked Shadow.

"Huh," said Silver, reading a label that appeared to be hidden under the door to a control panel. "This chamber is a conversion chamber, blah blah blah… wait… WHAT?!"

"What did you find out?!" Shadow shouted.

"This thing creates fuel," Silver answered. "…from the heartbreak of its subjects!"

"Heartbreak?!" asked Shadow, purely in shock.

"Yeah," Silver nodded. "That means… Rachel's heart has been broken somehow! Whoever did that is getting their-"

"W-…" Shadow stuttered. He couldn't say a word as he looked down at Rachel's face again. Indeed… her face did appear to have the stains of pure, natural tears. But… HOW?!

Glancing at a meter on the wall that was a little to the right of the halfway point, Silver said "Looks like a fuel gauge. Eggman Nega's still out cold, so I say we focus on cutting off any more heartbreak energy conversion. I can't find anything sharp around here…"

At that, Shadow took a glance at the area behind Silver… to see that Eggman Nega had risen, much like a movie-worthy zombie."

"And," Silver continued. "I'm not sure how risky-"

"Silver!" Shadow cried. "Behind you!"

Silver instantly turned around, only grimacing at the sight of Nega's revival.

Shadow couldn't do anything to attack since he was within such close proximities with Rachel. Hurting her was the last thing he'd ever do, if he'd even dare to do it at all. He could only wish Silver good fortune.

Immediately, Silver used his psychokinesis to pick Eggman Nega up and throw him against the wall, which he seemed to recover immediately from.

"Looks like I have a battle on my hands," said Silver, using the same attack once more. "Figure out a way to deactivate the fuel supply! M-Make her happy!"

At that, Nega ended up chasing Silver into the hallway. Shadow saw no more beyond that.

Almost like a charm, Shadow looked down to see that Rachel was opening her beautiful, sea-blue eyes.

"…Shadow!" she murmured. She didn't appear to be getting any stronger than to a state just beyond awake.

"Rachel, please tell me," Shadow asked of her desperately. "What's wrong? What's broken your heart?"

"I-It's… a sensitive matter," Rachel replied, another lonely tear creeping out of her eye. "I'm not sure you should know."

"Rachel, please…" Shadow whined. "Knowing will be half of our ticket out of this chamber. Even if it wasn't… I only want you to be happy. Your sadness is my distress." At this, Shadow felt himself develop a rosy blush.

Rachel sighed, sitting up and leaning against the glass, shedding a few more tears.

"Fine," she began to sob. "…I-I'm in love, okay?! I've been so despaired… because I can't be sure of anything! I'm led to believe that the one I'm in love with will only ever have feelings for another. He's my first true love, and… a-and I'm just not sure. I think he's in love with another girl!"

It all became clear. Like a novel that had been ended, summarized, and clarified within the last paragraph. He didn't even feel stupid for not knowing, for Rachel had been hiding her despair rather well. Also, merely knowing that she was in love set him on edge. He wasn't sure whether to be honored and the happiest male being in the universe… or whether to have the desire for the blood of another male to be strewn across the streets.

She was in love, and her heart had been broken.

And then… at the snap of a finger… an idea came to mind that, if one crucial factor worked right despite not doing so before… would solve more than one situation.

He had to try it. There was no other way anything was going to work. There was just no other path. He was going to end up doing it anyway, but now, he couldn't wait to.

He had to find a way to acquire the poem he had written for her… and confess his love for her.

* * *

**Author's note: Not-completely-intended cliffy! It's almost 2 in the morning, I'm just about falling asleep… and honestly, I think this is a nicely executed cliffy! What do you think?**

**Question for the reader: I've got ideas. Therefore, this fanfic either will or won't end soon. It depends. Here's the opinion I need from you guys: Silver x OC (a.k.a. Silver x Rachel). Yea or nay? Why or why not? Now, I know what you're thinking. There's some STRONG Shadow x OC going on here… but trust me. This could or could not change the future. I know I do this entirely too much, but… it's in both your hands and mine…**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: The vote is in! We have reached the end of our journey. After this chapter will come an epilogue.**

* * *

*Shadow's POV*

Kneeling there, trying to block out the sounds of Rachel's tears, he tried to think of a way to get back to her cabin. He knew for a fact that one key to not only their freedom, but his victory, had probably been waiting patiently by her bedside.

Chaos Blast… while it would surely blow this chamber to shreds, it would do the same to Rachel.

He'd much rather be trapped in a chamber with her than to murder her just to be free of it. Still, he wanted neither. He wanted both himself and Rachel to be free… and together…

He took a deep breath, ready to try it once more. It had proved futile… but at this point, there was no value in waiting for Silver to return from the battle. By that time, whatever Rachel's heartbreak was fueling would be ready to go.

At the same time, he couldn't take hiding his feelings any longer. There was no reason for them to be hiding in the shadows of his soul anymore. She had to know. No matter what it took, the time had finally grown ripe. There was no other way.

Just no other way.

"…CHAOS CONTROL!" he tried again, focusing his mind completely on Rachel's cabin. Focusing so hard that he almost forgot where he came from.

Where he came from… was the chamber. To Shadow's immense shock… there he was, standing on a wooden floor. Surrounded by wooden walls and hidden misery. He couldn't believe he had actually made it! Why hadn't he been able to before? Maybe it was because his hand was in contact with another living being, and the chamber…

Agh, there was no time to lose pondering something that was definitely obsolete at the moment. Lives were on the line.

He looked to Rachel's bedside table and found his poem waiting there, almost seeming to shout "Hey! Over here! Hurry up!"

He grabbed it and used Chaos Control again, and found himself back in the chamber, beside his grieving angel. She clearly hadn't noticed his return yet, so he had a few seconds to think. To prepare his heart to totally let loose as his words as the medium.

"…Rachel," he finally said, putting his hand back onto her shoulder. "There's something you must know."

*Rachel's POV*

Almost like a clearing to a mid-ocean storm, she saw Shadow staring at her with a new set of eyes.

The night she had snapped her ankle flashed for a mere second in her mind's eye. She was in a severe physical pain, crying purely out of pain. He had seemed so… well, reluctant wasn't the word… laid back! Was that it? Whatever it was… that night, he hadn't seemed as eager to help. Well, he did want to help, but he wasn't as... dare I say, _passionate _about her happiness.

At this moment, she caught sight of a new, undiscovered star in her night of misery. For that, the tears began to dry. The possibility of Silver liking Blaze had left her feeling so alone, for she thought nobody cared. No one dared to speak up. She hadn't dared to divulge. That had left her defenseless.

Shadow was staring into her crippled soul like nobody had, ever before. She couldn't help but stare into his worried eyes. What was going on? Shadow looked so much like a prince now. The way he was kneeling by her side, resting his hand so delicately on her shoulder…

She could feel herself growing happier and getting strength back… developing a blush…

Feeling almost exactly like she did when Silver spoke to her… but more meaningful…

Was this where _that _truly began? Or were there roots that reached farther back than her mind's eye had the power to see?

Shadow handed her a piece of paper. It looked vaguely familiar, but when Rachel wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at it closely, she knew she was setting eyes on a metaphorical jewel.

That sunset composed completely of pen strokes… and those words from Shadow's heart. The poem he had written her…

"…I remember this," she smiled at last.

"Good," Shadow nodded. "When I wrote those words, Rachel… Although alerting you to the fact that you hold value to me was a prominent result of writing it for you… that is not the entirety of the reason behind it."

He took Rachel's hand, the one that was free, and held it tightly in both of his, staring even deeper into her eyes. She could almost see a kind of fear glare in them for a split second. For that, she knew she had to brace herself for whatever he was going to say.

"…Since I met you on that dismal, rainy night," he confessed with an abnormal trace of passion. "I saw something in you. Normally, others can very easily be the bane of my existence. But you… I saw something in you that was also in Maria. We developed a friendship… but eventually… Maria wasn't even on my mind anymore. Your quality of unwavering compassion matched with your free spirit soon became only one thing I admired about you. You're a beautiful young soul, Rachel. You captivate me in more ways than I ever thought possible with anyone. Your eyes glimmer with the beauty of a late summer sunset. Your smile brings a world of happiness into my life whenever you have the courage to present it. Your voice sends me into an unmatchable trance, especially when it makes music. In every way, you're the most beautiful girl I'll ever meet."

"What do you mean by all this?" Rachel interrupted, only getting more caught up in Shadow. His voice was so deep, so reassuring… so handsome…

After a final breath of preparation, Shadow came right out and told her "I love you. I've been in love with you since our special connection was newly established. You're the one for me… my soulmate. I know that for a fact now."

Rachel had no idea what to say for a few seconds, but soon, her heart completely shifted gears as the final, truthful realization hit it.

Shadow was very possibly the one for her, too. Words… words of utter criticism and shame came to her mind. In all reality… who was Silver to her? Who was this hedgehog that had merely happened to be walking by in her first time of need? Who was this master of telekinesis that she had fallen not in love with… but a noxious infatuation?

Who was this savior whose connection with her felt so much like a flimsy piece of string… while Shadow's was a thick rope?

This silver hedgehog was an imposter of a crush. Rather deceiving, she could say.

She could also safely say that in truth, love was not known to her until this moment. She had to let Shadow know of that.

"…You know what?" she replied in complete confidence, sitting up and wiping any tears that were left away and into oblivion. "I love you, too."

At that moment, she found herself being wrapped tightly in Shadow's arms. She hugged back, not regretting in the least what she had locked herself into. This was true love right here. She couldn't wait to begin a life with Shadow.

At that moment, she and Shadow noticed the glass around them rise into the air. They looked and saw Silver, with his hand out, using his famous telekinesis to free them.

Shadow reluctantly let go of Rachel. He knew that Silver had just won a long battle. For that, he seemed relieved.

However, Rachel saw him and knew for a fact that things had changed. The sight that would usually send her into a frenzy of nervousness… was a sight that did nothing but make her see the truth. All that futile romantic attraction was gone.

It all, and her heart, was with Shadow now.

Did she have any harsh feelings toward Silver for unknowingly sending her into a stage of crippling, possibly deadly weakness? Only for a second. For quite a while after this, he was merely a great friend in her mind's eye. Finally, what she had said to Shadow a while back was true.

The three of them ended up running out of the building as fast as they could. As soon as they reached the outdoors, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"I'm not sure Eggman Nega will ever come out of this one," Silver chuckled.

"I'd still keep an eye out," Rachel warned him. "And… thanks. Thank you both for rescuing me. I wasn't sure what I was going to do!"

"Anytime!" Silver smiled, taking off into the air. "I'll see you two around sometime!"

Not even his voice would budge Rachel from the position she was in now.

* * *

**Author's note: …Don't get me wrong, my heart's still with Silver. However… I find an odd, significant comfort in the way this turned out. The author in me's finally awake again. Just an epilogue after this, and it'll be wrapping up! If you've made it this far, please review on either this chapter or the epilogue (when it's up, of course) on what you thought! And… thank you. You guys are the best. As far as passion and excitement on the writer's end goes… this has to be one of, if not the, most successful fanfics of mine. I loved writing it… and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Remember, the epilogue will be going up on Sunday, October 12! Don't miss it! **


	14. Epilogue

*Shadow's POV* (a night… one month later)

Just about all of the snow had given up its cold, icy reign over the world and withered away, freeing the underlying grass from its terror. Shadow could just about feel the ground's sheet of dew drops touch his leg as he sat.

He sat on a dampened park bench, watching the moon rise with a new tint of pearl white… when before, such a thing had gone unnoticed. It felt heavenly to be where he was, even despite the chill remaining in the air. A smile could clearly be seen on his rosy face, when in all of time before, such a thing seemed scientifically unconceivable.

It was all because he had the head of a certain special someone resting on his shoulder. He sat here, watching the moonrise, with Rachel. His one true love.

Unlike insipid nights before, every waking moment of this one stuck out to his mind's eye. Every moment he had her hand within his own. Every glimpse he caught of her wonder-dazzled eyes of a sea blue. Every word she spoke was like a soft symphony to him.

Everything was divine. A certain, unknown array of stars was in a perfect line. He knew that this was the night. Nothing drastic would be taking place to the average passerby… but to him, it'd mean worlds and worlds of wonder. This was his night to make a tiny move… a clean one, mind you, yet romantic all the same.

*Rachel's POV*

Rachel had completely drifted off into a waking flurry of dreams as she stared off into the distant space, resting against Shadow. He was so warm… arguably the most comfortable tangible thing in the universe. Not only did the chill in the air not bother to harass her. She could feel warmth in her heart. It swirled about, unwavering and perpetual.

He was all she could think about now… well, in the sense that he made an appearance in every one of her thoughts. His crimson eyes and his bold personality… his deep, handsome voice… that warming, beguiling smile…

He still wasn't a social type. He had only changed slightly since they had confessed their love for each other, which Rachel now knew was irrefutably true… possibly even truer than her thoughts at the time made it out to be.

Silver occasionally made a cameo role in her slideshow of moving, intriguing thoughts… as the bad guy who tried to manipulate her and ruin everything. The Silver of reality… poor guy… had _no _idea. No clue… just how much damage he had done to her outlook during the period where her courage flat out abandoned her.

And now, he was dear to her… but merely that. Dear.

Shadow was dear… along with charming, life-saving, and her everything. Falling for him, she knew, was what falling in love was supposed to feel like. She felt warm and fuzzy, not utterly captivated and obsessed.

She felt herself snapping back to reality, realizing that her eyes had been staring into the soul of the moon overhead.

She then looked behind her, managing to catch another mesmerizing look into his eyes. His cheerful, yet chilled look made her begin to feel her cheeks become warmer.

At that moment, Shadow turned and looked at her, with the same expression, aside from a growing smile and a rosy complexion of his own.

"The moon, I've seen just about every night since I was created," he told her. "I grew to become accustomed to its light. I never acknowledged its presence after the first layer of my world started to come crashing down around me, except for the fact that I'd take it over the bitterness of sunlight any day. And I still would. Tonight, I realize just how bright it is… and how much I feel that my crumbling heart has been mended. It didn't heal with time, like everyone said it would. It completely got itself back together… when I met you. You know… you give me hope for the future. Mine, at the very least. I had never even imagined that someone so serene, sweet, and beautiful had ever existed… let alone would ever come into my life. You're everything I'd ever unknowingly hoped to find."

Rachel just about melted. Nobody had ever said something like that to her before. Nobody had dared to be so sweet to her… ever.

"I love you, Shadow," she tried to counter. "Love was simply a theory to me before… in all honesty, before I met you. I had no clue what love was all about, or what it'd do to me. I know now, and I'll have that knowledge, along with the feeling, for the rest of my life thanks to you. I could only make futile assumptions until you came along."

At that, she noticed that Shadow's rosy face had leaned a little closer to hers. Closer than usual, in fact.

She had almost no idea…

In a whispery murmur, he smiled "I love you, too."

At that moment, it was almost like a new gravity had been created. They found their eyes slowly shutting. They found their heads slowly drawing nearer and nearer to each other. Until at last, they found themselves within a kiss. There wasn't much else to think about but the moment they were submerged in. This had been Rachel's first kiss at the least. It was divine. An experience never thought to be possible before.

Momentary, yet one of the moments they'd always remember… whether they wanted to or not…

When they broke apart, their smiles merely grew bigger before they looked to the pearly moon again… not only close to each other, but practically holding each other.

May I make a correction to a statement I made in the reachable past? Alright. On this colorful and vibrant world known as Mobius, the life of Rachel the Fox began, flourished… then crumbled… then broke away from crippling apocalypse and shone a light through any darkness that tried to infiltrate it. Her first experience with what she perceived as "love" ended up making her heart start to crumble, just about to the very core. Within a fleeting moment, true love stepped in, informing her of what was true and what was false, gathering up every little piece of her heart and getting it, along with her hopes, back together with a seemingly unbreakable adhesive.

Her crumbling heart was mended until further notice. That was all that mattered. That was all anyone could hope for.

* * *

**Author's note: Thoughts? PLEASE review and tell me what you think! How was Crumbling of the Heart for you? Oh, and may I urge you once more to check out RCTSG? He's a great friend of mine now… POWERFUL words the dude writes. PLEASE also do me a favor and check out his work!**


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